Ranma: Motherhood
by kyburg
Summary: Ranma's been raped. Somebody - or - something was strong enough to beat him, freeze him into his girl form and leave him pregnant. While he considers his options, the rapist is still at large...and his other victims aren't surviving his attacks. With Ranm


Jim's Home /Donna's Home Ranma: Motherhood (Menu) / Ranma: Motherhood (Part One)

Ranma: Motherhood (Part One) 

By James T. Bell and Donna Hutt Stapfer Bell

It was a cold, raw day in the early part of Spring - so cold, Ryoga wore the warmest shirt in his pack, so wet he wondered why he hadn't been changed....but the water remained in the air as a dreary fog that masked all the landmarks and hid the sun from him. If he hadn't been lost when he started, he certainly was now.

_Ryoga...he's been missing for days!_ The sound of Akane's voice kept buzzing through his head. _Please...you've got to help me find him....something terrible has happened, I just know it!_

Having left the train station behind him some time ago, he walked, umbrella in hand, through dingy side streets, scanning back and forth as he went. Ranma Saotome was missing...had been missing since a trip to a neighboring community for a martial arts workshop four days ago. Akane...her face as she turned to look over her shoulder at him, a picture of Ranma in her hands...dear as nothing else in the world was dear...pale, wide-eyed...terrified. _I just know it..._ Her sisters had been more matter-of-fact about it, but there was something in the way Kasumi clasped her hands in front of her, and Nabiki wouldn't meet his eyes. And both of them were out looking, too.

"Dear Akane..." he mused, "When I find that - Ranma - for you, I will tear him limb from limb for what he puts you through...I'll beat him to a bloody pulp...I'll -"

The meow of a cat caught his attention - and then, a shoe. Lying in the road was a shoe...kneeling, he picked it up. Looking up, he saw the trash dumpsters, full and overflowing, awaiting the trash pickup. And then he saw the other shoe...still attached to a foot. Attached to a body wedged between the dumpster and the wall of the alleyway.

"Oh no."

Black slippers, they were...and the foot still wearing one was wearing the drawstring pants Ranma favored. Pushing the dumpster aside, pawing through the garbage on top of the body, his heart went cold as red satin began to peek through the trash. And then, red hair. "Oh no. No...it can't be."

_He's been missing for days...._Just the tiniest of sounds came from the body...a whimper. Pushing the last of the trash aside, he knelt next to the body..."Oh, Ranma..."

"...din' move...I...din' move..." A face so bruised and swollen, it was hard to recognize as Ranma's. The eyes were swollen and caked shut, the mouth barely able to parse sounds through the split lips, stiff with caked blood and spit. "...please...don' kill me...please...please..."

Ryoga kept pushing the trash away, further exposing a terribly broken body. Ranma, changed into his female form by the curse of Jusenkyo, wore only the tatters of his favorite outfit...blood, rotting food, and other substances left unmentionable caking every scrap left. Cuts, bruises, lacerations...he laid in the rubbish unmoving, limbs at strange angles, as if he'd been thrown there like a discarded toy.

_Somebody thought they'd killed him...they left him here for dead...Ranma!_

Thanking the sprits who guarded unlucky martial artists, he carefully tried to gather the tiny body into a bundle to carry in his arms. A shoulder looked dislocated, the collarbone broken...wordlessly, he opened his pack to pull out extra clothing, gently wrapping him in his groundcloth and blanket. _I've got to get him to some help...but where?_

_So small...I didn't know he was so small...and so cold. So very cold..._"Ranma?"

The eyebrows reacted, drawing together over closed, bruised eyes..."...ho...?" Then, feebly, he tried to back away, withdraw. "...no..."

Praying, he put every bit of warmth he could into his voice. "Ranma...we've found you. It's Ryoga...remember me, Ranma? We've found you...we've -" He couldn't choke out another word.

Carefully, gently as if he held a fragile glass sculpture and not a living being, he stood, cradling Ranma close to his chest, tucking the head between his shoulder and chin. _So cold..._

"Ryo-ga?"

"Yeah. Ryoga." Red hair matted with blood and filth wavered in his vision as his eyes filled with tears. _This can't be happening...._ "We've found you. And I'm going to take you home where's it's safe...right now."

_Sweet Akane...guide me. What can I do?_ Leaping to the rooftops, Ryoga set out in the direction his heart set, hoping with every step that it was the right way. When Ranma didn't answer, he thought better of returning to the Tendo dojo, fixing the image of Dr. Tofu in his mind. In all the years, the image of killing Ranma...had often been a thought in the heat of anger, quickly banished. But now...even thinking of being cursed as he was...he couldn't feel a thing about it now...leap again...dodge the television aerial...get a bearing...that way...Ranma only laid in his arms like a bundle of sticks and cloth. _So cold...and he doesn't even shiver...this is bad. **Bad....**_

Stopping once, he pulled the blanket away from Ranma's face, his heart skipping a beat or two until he was sure Ranma was still breathing. The eyebrows, drawn together tightly over the closed eyes...the mouth set grimly in a straight line, the jaw clenched....pain, and a lot of it. "Ranma? We're almost there...hang on."

Ryoga's heart turned over as this time the face registered his voice, turning towards him...the eyes trying hard to open. _Strong, so strong..._ "Ryoga Hibiki has you, Ranma." He murmured the words almost absently, more for himself. "Whoever did this will pay. I swear it."

"...don' go 'lone..." A sigh, a whisper it was... "...kill you....h-urt you...." Tears...tears!...began to leak from the closed eyes. "...'yoga...don' go..."

He went faster.

* * *

Dropping onto the street, he turned a corner...and immediately knew he had struck paydirt. _Ah, Akane...perhaps you're already there....then again...I hope you're not!_ The sign above his shoulder read "Dr. Tofu Ono, M.D"....and a long list of alphabet soup related to his degrees in acupuncture, chiropractics and the like. "Perfect."

Nobody waited in the courtyard...jostling the burden in his arms, he tried the door and was rewarded when it slid open easily...too easily...it slammed against the end of the track with a sound like a gunshot. "Dr. Tofu! Somebody! Help! Someone needs help here!" Striding into the middle of the waiting area, he noted that it was completely empty. But he heard voices coming from the office to his right.

"...I'd better go see -" The door leading to his office slid open as Kasumi exited smiling and giggling, closely followed by a completely love-struck Dr. Tofu.

"...Dr. Tofu, you are so -" And then she saw Ryoga and stopped dead. "Ryoga."

"I've found Ranma...is Akane with you?"

"No...she's at home." Stepping forward swiftly to his side, she peeled the blanket away. "Oh my!" Then long, slender fingers closed over her own, pulling the blanket down. Looking up, Ryoga cut eyes with a very wide-awake, alert Tofu...in complete mode.

"This way..." Turning to Kasumi, he looked at her as if he had just noticed her standing there. "Call Akane...tell her Ranma's been found...and to bring a change of clothes." Striding to the door of the main exam room, he stopped and looked over his shoulder. "Tell her to hurry."

Following the doctor, Ryoga sped past the doorways, quickly sizing up the largest of Dr. Tofu's examination rooms. Seeing the table in the corner, he quickly went for it, but the doctor was there ahead of him, pulling it into the center of the room. "Hold on a second, let me get the table ready. Where did you find him?" Looking again, he frowned. "Or her -"

"Near the train station, behind some garbage cans...I think he's been there all the time you've been looking for him."

Draping the table in paper sheets, pulling trays around to the bed, Tofu nodded and offered his arms to Ryoga. Gently extricating Ranma from the blankets as he placed the limp body onto the table, he began clucking and reaching for sponges and tools immediately. "Feel up to some nursing?"

"What can I do?"

"Grab that basin over there and fill it with some warm water...hot as you can stand. Then put it on that tray and wheel it over there. Go get Kasumi and ask her to come give me a hand. And come back."

"Got it." Doing as he was asked, he found the materials where they belonged. Filling the small basin with warm water, he placed it on the wheeled bedside tray and moved it next to the head of the table. Ranma lay on his/her back, tiny and lifeless under the glare of the exam lights Tofu turned on.

"Exposure...dehydrated...hypothermia...." Turning from the cabinet in the corner, Tofu went to a tall closet and brought out a tall pole with hooks on top, and wheels on the bottom. "IV pole. Don't use it often, but I'm glad I've got it." He then picked up a bag of solution from where he had put it from the cabinet and strode across the room to the microwave oven, putting the bag in the oven, setting the timer and walking back to Ranma's side. "Wish I had oxygen..." he muttered. "What a mess." Looking up, he saw Ryoga standing still, staring at Ranma. "Get Kasumi." Giving him a gentle push towards the door, he added "I've got to get an IV started, and I don't think you want to watch that...do you?"

"No, no...'course...yeah." Turning to leave, he watched Dr. Tofu squirt some soap into the basin of water, and then wring a cloth out of it and begin cleaning Ranma's arm with long, brisk strokes. Then he soaked a sponge in some antiseptic strong enough to make his eyes water as he reached the door and began swabbing. Ryoga quickly closed the door behind him.

"Kasumi?"

"Here..." Stepping away from the wall, she had the phone to her ear. "Akane...Ryoga needs me now...yes...yes, of course...." She offered the phone to him. "It's Akane..."

"Dr. Tofu needs you in there. Here, let me take the phone." Stepping to her side, he barely noted her pass by him as he took the deepest breath he could imagine, and tried to smile as he took the phone. "Hello, Akane?" 

Her voice...she was crying, and begging him to tell her what happened. Turning to see if anyone could see or hear him, Ryoga slowly let his guard down. To the one person who wouldn't judge him for it. 

"Akane...do what the doctor said. Come quick-" His throat tightening against what he would have added, his vision began to swim as the tears he had been holding back came forth. Poor dear Akane... "I don't know what happened, but Ranma's been hurt bad...real bad...and he's a girl right now...and..."

Dial tone answered him. She was on the way. 

Placing the phone back on the hook, he went back into the exam room. 

Tofu raised his head as he entered, but only to note his arrival and then went back to the business he had at hand. The IV pole, with the bag of solution now hanging from it, stood at the head of the table, out of the way of both he and Kasumi, who were quickly cleaning away the filth Ranma had laid in when he was found. Ranma, now covered with a thick cotton blanket, still laid too still for Ryoga's liking. The doctor also had a tray of instruments, bottles, and sutures at his elbow...and he was using them. 

"Get another basin of water...thanks, Ryoga. Change out what Kasumi's using, and get a gown from in the cabinet over there." Pausing, he stood briefly, wiping his brow with the back of a gloved hand. Putting the suturing material down, he stripped the gloves off into the trashcan, donning new ones. "I'd sure like to take some x-rays..." he mused, putting the stethoscope to his ears, bending over Ranma to listen to his chest. "Heart's sounding better...lungs are clear. So far so good." Taking the blood pressure cuff from the tray, he stepped around the table to slide the cuff onto the other arm, and took a reading. "Much better. Pressure's approaching normal again." 

"There's something wrong with his heart?" Finding the gowns in the cabinet, he slid one out and closed the door. 

"For someone just up and walking around, yeah. For someone who hasn't had a thing to eat or drink in days with a core temp four degrees subgrade, no." Gentle hands passed over Ranma's body, sliding under the thick cotton blankets covering him. "But it's getting better." He added softly. Kasumi lifted the covers now and again to remove another shred of clothing, silently going about the business of cleaning, now and again taking a butterfly strip from the edge of the tray and applying it to some part of Ranma's body under the covers. "Think we need to heat that blanket up again?" 

"It is cooling off some." She replied, and turned to the cabinet where the gowns were kept and took another blanket out, stepping to the microwave. 

"Careful, only 45 seconds or so, or you'll burn it." 

She turned to smile brightly at Dr. Tofu. "Of course. It's not as if we were going to eat it, Dr. Tofu." 

Why did that make him think of Akane? 

"There are some spots on my side you need to look at." She added softly. 

"Okay." 

After waiting for the timer to ring, Kasumi took the blanket out and went back to the table. Nodding to Ryoga, they lifted the blankets off just long enough for the newly warmed one to be applied, then tucked the others in around the areas they hadn't gotten to yet. But even Ryoga could see the extent of the damage...it hadn't been his imagination that Ranma had been lighter that he remembered. 

"He - she - Ranma...has lost a lot of weight." Tofu remarked. "I'm sure the IV fluids will help with that." 

"You're not saying, 'don't worry,' Dr. Tofu." 

Hands passing over Ranma's ribcage, he looked at Ryoga over his glasses. "I am worried. I'm really wondering if I should call in another doctor...even call an ambulance." 

"But -" 

"I'm only one pair of hands..." Muttering to himself, Tofu kept working swiftly, absently mentioning what he saw. "Yup, that shoulder is definitely dislocated...broken collarbone...get to that in a minute...no sign of internal injury, that's good...ugh, gotta tape the ribs, there's some broken on either side...okay, now the fun part...." 

Ranma lay as still as before, but Ryoga was hoping it wasn't his imagination that a bit of color was beginning to trickle back into his body. A slight flinch, he wasn't sure he saw it...and then he saw gooseflesh come up on his exposed arms, and a slight shiver set in. "He's cold..." 

"Actually, he's beginning to warm up. Taking deeper breaths, too. Good, good...coming right along...." 

Flipping the blanket up, the doctor undid the drawstrings at both ankles, and then moved up to the waistband. And froze. "Uh, oh. This isn't good..." 

The drawstring was missing completely. Ungathered, the pants loosely hung about hips that bore bruising on top along the bones. It was a simple matter to pull the pants away. But they wouldn't. Thick clots of dried blood stuck the legs together and the fabric to the legs. "Okay, that's it. I'm calling for help." 

Ryoga didn't want to think it. He didn't want to see it. Shrinking away, he met Kasumi's eyes and saw his face reflected in eyes gone wide in shock. Dropping the waistband, Dr. Tofu flipped the blanket back over, absently tucking it in as he sped from the room. "You girls know Dr. Waipio, don't you?" 

Hands raising to her face, Kasumi nodded blindly. "But she's a woman's doctor -" 

"It's what we need!" Silent, staring at each other, Ryoga and Kasumi listened to the sounds of the city trickle in over the sounds of Ranma breathing, the table rattling with his shivers. The unmistakable sounds of a phone being dialed in the next room could be heard as alternately, Ryoga stared at Ranma...then Kasumi. 

Taking a deep breath, Ryoga gathered what was left of his sanity and took Kasumi's hands away from her face. "Keep working. And keep thinking. Ranma needs us. We've got to be strong." 

"...he's been raped...oh, Ranma..." 

* * *

Walelia Waipio was a generous figure of a woman, friendly and expansive...she came right over to the office from her evening meal, coinciding with Akane's arrival. She smiled easily, laughed about missing her dinner...but became deadly serious once she was in the exam room with Ranma. Akane, on the other hand, was all business from the moment she entered the door. Striding through the exam room door, she took in Kasumi's face, absently patting Ryoga's hand as it landed on her shoulder. But then her eyes fell on Ranma and she blanched. 

"Oh my God, he's dead!" 

Taking Akane by the shoulders, Ryoga walked her over to the head of the table as the doctors went to the other end. "No, he's still alive...but it's a close thing. Here...sit here and talk to him. He might respond better to you." 

Doing as she was told, she reached out with quivering fingertips to gently touch the red hair, then the bruised face as tears fell unheeded onto the sheets and blankets. "Ranma? I'm so sorry..." 

"He's looking a whole lot better, actually." 

Dr. Waipio looked askance at Dr. Tofu. "He?" 

"I told you. This is Ranma, the boy who visited Jusenkyo?" 

Confusion blurred her Hawaiian features for a moment, then cleared. "Oh. Dat boy." Looking at the small crowd forming at the end of the bed, she cut eyes with Tofu. "You sure they oughta be in here right now?" 

"You want to try to make them leave? I don't recommend it." Looking again, she frowned but shook her head and went to work, pulling on a pair of gloves as she unpacked her tray. 

Putting a basin of warm water, soap and towels next to Akane, Ryoga fished out a comb from a kit and handed it to her. "I'm going to start on his hands next. Why don't you try to wash some of that yuck out of his hair?" Kasumi was down at the foot of the bed, pulling the pants out from under the blankets as Drs. Tofu and Waipio worked them loose with liberal doses of water soaking the blood and fabric away from the body. Once it was free, she tossed it into a pile growing in the corner. 

"You got that Cipro on board that I brought you?" Waiting for Tofu to finish checking the legs, she took a quick look at what Ryoga was doing, then glanced down at Ranma's feet. "And what pain meds have you started?" 

"Didn't want to interfere with anything, so I only used locals...I set some pain blocks when I reduced that shoulder and set the collarbone. Should be good for a while yet. Think we need something stronger?" 

"Think you being careful. Good." Resting her hands on the table, she leaned against it as she looked up at Ranma. "Strong, this one. All the vitals look good. Well, for the next thing...she gonna need pain relief, I think. She ever wake up?" 

"He - talked to me a little before we got here." Ryoga offered. "What are you going to do?" 

"Wish she'd wake up...so I can explain what I'm gonna do. I don' think she's gonna like me messing around down here right now." 

Akane's head lifted. "Down...there?" Kasumi met Dr. Tofu's eyes as she stopped what she was doing and knelt down beside her sister. 

"Akane...I -" She couldn't say it. "He -" 

"Dr. Tofu, I think this wrist needs a look." Walking to stand behind Akane, Ryoga set his hands on her shoulders. "Akane...Ranma was...badly used...by another man." 

"But he's a girl right now -" 

Akane sensed the nod rather than saw it. "Just so." 

"No...." Looking into Kasumi's eyes, Akane saw the tears...felt the blood draining from her face as well. "How...when....who - who could have done this?" _To someone as strong as Ranma...._

Gasping as a sharp pain raced through her fingers, Akane looked down at the broken comb in her hands. "Ranma..." 

"Akane...maybe you need some air -" 

"No! I'm staying!" Turning her head to look at Dr. Tofu, she grit her teeth to keep the fear out of her voice. "Tell me what to do...please. What are you going to do?" 

Dr. Waipio blinked owlishly as she absently wrung her hands on a dry towel. "Nothing. 'Til you get ready. You ready?" Taking a deep breath, Akane nodded. 

"Then come sit with her, and hold her hand. If she wakes up while I'm doing this, she's going to want her friend with her." Just the trace of a smile graced her face, but it was enough to warm her whole bearing. 'Just gonna clean her up...that's all." 

"He, Dr. Waipio. Ranma's a guy." Nonplussed, Akane moved to sit at Ranma's side, and took his right hand between her own. His friend? Gentle, gentle hands...the one she held was so hurt...Ryoga had washed the dirt away, and it was neatly bandaged with a thick gauze sponge padding the palm, but the nail beds were all black and blue and torn and the fingertips were purple. But it was warm, and her heart leaped as the fingers curled around her own. Looking up, she watched Ranma's face for a reaction of any kind...but the eyes remained closed, the face lax and still. "Okay...I'm ready." 

Pushing Ranma's legs up to bend the knees, Dr. Waipio spread them wide, draping the blanket over the knees like a tent. "Poor little thing." she replied, reaching for an irrigation syringe and a speculum. "You sure you want to do this...?" 

"I'm staying." Akane's tone was resolute. Looking up, she met Ryoga's eyes over the top of Ranma's head. Blinking, he smiled at her, and she found herself smiling back. _This isn't happening...I must be dreaming..._

"AHHH!" The hand clamped down upon hers - hard. Snapping back to Ranma's face, she met his own eyes staring back at her. Wide awake - and terrified. "Don' -" Back arcing, he almost threw himself from the table. "I din' - din' - AHH!" 

"Quick! Hang on to him!" Throwing an arm over his torso, Dr. Tofu kept him from literally leaping off the bed. 

"I did what you said - " 

Ryoga held his shoulders down. Akane swiftly immobilized his head between her two hands as Ranma grabbed the table's edge with his hand. But he stopped trying to throw himself from the table, leaning into the resistance. "Stop....stop it...please..." Meeting her eyes, there was no recognition in them, wild and unfocused. 

"Ranma...it's me. It's Akane..." 

He screamed. 

"I'm almost there...hang on." Hands flashing, she finished her work with the speculum, packing the area, sweeping the sodden lap pads and sheets into a wad to toss in the trashcan. Just as swiftly, Kasumi was ready with dry bedding to replace the wet. And another warmed blanket. 

Reaching over Akane's arms, Dr. Tofu found the pressure points he needed, and Ranma went limp again. "Wow. Akane, are you okay?" 

Hands still cradling his head between them, Akane fought to keep from screaming herself. "Why? Who would do this?" Choking, the sobs finally found their way to the surface. "W-why?" 

When she looked up again, her father was there..._how did he know...where did he come from...Daddy..._"Dad -" 

Silent as a shadow, she sensed his movement rather than saw it as she felt herself enveloped in warm, strong arms and pulled away. "Dad, I want to stay -" 

"Come on, Akane. Let the boy rest." 

"Dad - " Deep inside, something broke away as she allowed him to lead her away. "Oh, Dad -" 

Looking at her patient, then her associate, Dr. Waipio met Dr. Tofu's eyes. "You keepin' her here tonight?" 

"Yup." 

"You want me to stay?" 

"Oh yeah. You bet. Would you?" 

She only shook her head. "You owe me, Ono boy." 

"Nineteen holes of golf - anywhere you say. Deal?" 

She blew air, looking down at Ranma. "It's a start." 

Noticing Ryoga moving to follow the Tendo family out into the waiting room, Dr. Tofu stopped him. "Hang on a minute." 

"Eh?" 

"Something else we didn't notice before..." Taking one of the basins of wash water he had been pouring on Ranma, he flipped the remains of the clean water onto Ryoga. 

"Why did you do that for -" Then the realization set in as he sensed just what hadn't happened. "It...it's still hot..." 

Dr. Tofu nodded. "We've been pouring this stuff all over him since he got here. The water's hot, the blankets are hot...jeez, even the IV fluids have been warmed up. We've got a bigger problem on our hands than we thought." 

"He's still a girl...he hasn't changed back." 

"Uh huh. And I don't know why..." 

Outside in the waiting room, Akane met the faces of Nabiki and Ranma's father, Genma with a stony face of her own. "Dad...I gotta talk to you outside for a moment. Please!" 

Genma moved to stop them, but Soun waved him back. "Wait, Saotome...all your questions will be answered. He lives..." Pulling him outside, Akane closed the door behind them and faced him in the small courtyard. 

"Dad...something's really wrong with Ranma. We were pouring buckets of hot water on him, and nothing happened. He's still a girl!" Not waiting for a response, she blundered on, feeling the tears spill as she spoke. "He was raped, Dad. Someone really, really hurt him...while he was a girl....Dad - 

"I think he might be pregnant." 

* * *

_Thrummm...thrummm...thrummm...thrummm...thrummm...thrummm...._

_Ah, what's that smell? Something like soap...and wind... soft, warm ...thrumm ...thrumm ...thrummm...._

_Where am I? Augh, everything hurts..._ Slowly, Ranma opened his eyes. Where? It was dark, but even so, he could see someone sleeping in a bed across the way...the light from the streetlamps outside glinting off the glass cabinets between that bed...and the one he was in. _Thrumm...thrumm..._

_Someone's holding me._

Shifting slightly, he immediately regretted trying to move his left arm as he found it immobilized in a sling strapped to his chest, the fingertips of his left hand brushing his chin. Pain shot through his shoulder as he tried to move it. "eetch -" _Ah, did someone get the number of that truck that hit me!_

Then his "pillow" moved, and a gentle hand lightly brushed the top of his head. "Ranma?" 

"Akane? Is that you?" 

"Shh. You okay?" Finding purchase with his right hand, Ranma tried to prop himself up to see where he was...and found himself face to face with Akane. A tearstained, worried Akane...her eyes glistening in the dim light. Looking down, he saw where he had been laying...on one of Dr. Tofu's treatment beds, with Akane sitting propped against the wall, holding him against herself, he laying on his side between her legs.. His head had been laying on her chest...the thrumming sound her heartbeat...the scent of her like no other.... 

"What the hell -" His voice broke in the middle, and his eyes widened in shock. _My throat's sore...like I've been yelling a lot....a whole lot...._ "Are we where...I think we are?" 

"Dr. Tofu's? Yeah. Do you remember anything?" 

Shaking his head, and then regretting it, Ranma struggled to sit on the edge of the bed. _What happened?_ It was just beyond him...little pains and itches identified bandaged wounds...the rib brace kept him from taking a deep breath...looking down at his right hand, he saw it swathed in an ace bandage and gauze like a cheap mummy imitation....taking stock, he looked down to see bare feet - one foot with torn nails, scratches and bruises, the other relatively unscathed. Tested them...then stood. 

The pain that washed over him nearly made him faint...it was like being torn apart from the inside out...hand found hand, then arm...falling back, he felt Akane standing behind him. "Are you okay?" 

"No..." Tried to take a step...torn muscles protested their use...ligaments stretched and abused...and he remembered. _Remembered...._ "Nooooo." The room suddenly became too small as he rushed for the door to the bathroom, nearly hopping on one leg as the injured foot protested its use. 

Throwing the light, he stared at himself in the mirror. The face of a wounded girl looked back at him from a face beaten black and blue. "Change back...change back..." Throwing the hot water faucet, he let the water run over his hands...waiting for it to heat up. 

"Ranma?" Looking up, he saw Akane standing in the doorway, and Ryoga was behind her. The sensation of flying in the air...the smell of damp wool...Ryoga's eyes staring...staring at me.... 

"Leave me alone!" Turning around, he shoved them both back, slamming the door in their faces... 

"Ranma, I think -" 

"Leave me alone, I said! I'm fine!" _Ahh, almost hot enough..._ Quickly scanning the area near the sink, he located a glass sitting on the sideboard. Filling it, he closed his eyes and flung the contents over his head. 

Nothing. He opened his eyes to see the girl still looking at him...now drenched with water faintly steaming in the glare of the bathroom light. "No....no way...noooo!" 

"Dr. Tofu!" 

Turning to the drench shower in the corner, Ranma swiftly turned the hot spigot on full - and waited as the water, heated by the same boiler that heated the building's radiators, quickly reached scalding proportions. "It wasn't hot enough...this will be hot enough...it has to be..." 

Sticking a hand under the stream, he quickly withdrew it. "Eeitch!" 

He heard a key turn in the lock, heard the door slide back.... 

"Stop! Don't!" Arms wrapped around his waist, pulling him back. "Ranma, that's hot enough to burn you! Stop it! It won't work." Squirming, he faced Akane, white-faced with terror. "Stop..." she pleaded. 

"Let me go!" _I'm dreaming...I gotta be dreaming...change...I gotta change..._ Struggling to break free, he sensed himself being pulled back...away...out of the bathroom...back into the exam room he had woke in. _Since when did Akane get so strong...can't get loose...._

"Stop, stop, stop..." 

Squirming, he managed to get free . "I said...let me go!!" He saw his hand raised, saw the shocked look on her face...and as if his hand belonged to someone else, he watched it strike Akane. The sound was so loud, he winced. "Oh, no..." 

_I didn't mean to do that...I didn't mean it...Akane!_ Her head snapped back as her eyes filled with tears...and then she turned away. "Akane...don'...." _She's leaving...no, Akane...don't leave me..._ "Akane...don't leave..._Akane..._" She didn't turn....and he heard himself calling her name, shouting it...and suddenly, he was in danger to his very core..._Alone...I'm all Alone..._and that's when crying her name turned into blood-curdling shrieks. Nobody was more shocked to hear the sound echo off the walls...but he couldn't stop. Eyes screwed shut, falling to the floor in a pile, scream after scream poured out...completely unstoppable. _What's wrong with me? I can't stop it..._

Then he couldn't take another breath. She had him. "Ranma, stop...you're scaring me..." 

_I'm trying, stupid! Just...don't let me go...._ Panting, he tried to stop the hysterics, but couldn't. Pulling away from Akane's shoulder, he looked her in the eye and took her right hand in his own, guiding it to his face. _Slap me...please...slap me senseless...I can't stop...._ Closing his eyes, he braced himself. 

"You can't be serious..." Sobbing, Ranma only stared back at her, his eyes pleading with her. The image of his face wavered as the tears filled her eyes. 

And her hand found its mark. 

* * *

"I am so sorry about this." 

He barely knew the woman squatting on the floor in front of him..._She's the girl's lady doctor, I think..._Dr. Waipio only smiled and patted his hand. Sitting on the edge of the bed, Akane sat on one side with her arm around his waist, and Ryoga...Ryoga sat on the other side, an arm around his shoulders. _Jeez, why are they being so nice for? Treating me like a baby!_ But he didn't argue. Fifteen minutes ago, he'd been screaming as if he had been set on fire...and he couldn't remember why. 

"It's okay, " the doctor said. "I'm sorry about this too. Want to talk about it?" 

"What's there to say? Last thing I remember is getting off the train...and then here. Like this. Sort of." 

Dragging a stool over, Dr. Tofu sat down behind Dr. Waipio. "Sure you don't want a chair?" 

"Nah, I'm fine. I like this." Sighing, she did change position and sat down on the floor, folding her legs in front of her. "Why don't you give her the rundown?" 

"Him." The all chimed in unison. "I'm a guy." Ranma added. 

Dr. Waipio only rolled her eyes towards the ceiling. "Whatever." 

Pushing his glasses back on his nose, Dr. Tofu took the chart from his desk and opened it. "I took some notes while we were working on you, Ranma. I can tell you what we found upon your arrival." 

Listening closely, Ranma tried to take it all in...but it was a long, long list. Explained a lot...and with a sinking heart, realized he wouldn't be training much for months. _So that's why I'm so tired...and sore._

"But there's one more thing," Dr. Waipio added...and took his right hand in her own, turning it over so it faced palm up. "See this?" On the side of his index finger, there was a tiny red mark. "I did this. I'm sorry." 

"That little thing? Why for? Just a scratch." 

"I needed to run some tests, so I took some blood there..." 

"Oh. What kind of tests? Am I okay?" 

She beamed. "Oh, sure. You're really healthy. Nothing to worry about." But then her face fell a notch, and he found himself staring into eyes like burnt caramels. "Except for one thing." 

"Yeah?" 

"You know you were attacked. You know your attacker...forced himself on you...." 

"Go on...." He wasn't liking the sound of this.... 

"Well, in these cases, we look for some...things...to show up. Like once we knew he'd messed with you down there, I went looking...you know what I mean?" 

Mutely, Ranma shook his head. And swallowed, hard. "But, you're gonna tell me..." 

Stroking his arm with one hand, she pushed the sleeve of the shirt he was wearing up above the elbow. "See how these bruises are already healing up? You were attacked some days ago...normally, when a girl is raped, we give her a set of pills right afterwards. But in your case, it isn't going to do any good." 

"Pills for what -" 

"Ranma, she ran a blood test on you for pregnancy." Dr. Tofu said abruptly, pushed his glasses back up to the bridge of his nose. "It came back positive." 

Pressure from either side as both Akane and Ryoga tried to pull him towards them..._felt his jaw drop...can't breathe...can't -_

"No way...no way can I be p-p-pr..." He looked down at himself...but saw nothing new. "You gotta be kidding..." 

Sober faces looked back at him. "We ran it through three times, Ranma. Three out of three...and these things just don't lie." 

Akane laid her head on his shoulder...Ryoga got closer...and the room just spun. "We're here for you, Ranma." He heard Akane whisper in his ear. Turning to meet Ryoga's eyes, he watched him nod. 

"You won't be alone in this. I promise." 

Looked at the floor. Tried to take a deep breath. Succeeded on the fourth try. "I want to go home." He said simply. "Can I go home now?" 

The doctors looked at each other...Waipio shrugged, Tofu nodded. "Sure." 

"Ranma, I'm so proud of you...you're so brave..." Akane gave him a gentle squeeze before she got up. He only looked up at her helplessly as the world dissolved into sobs again. 

_What did he do to me...what did he do?!!!_

* * *

Standing at the door of the clinic, Ranma stood between Ryoga and Akane, trying hard to stay steady on his feet. Tired to the bone, sore in every place he could think of...and in places he didn't want to know he had...he tried to listen to both of the doctors, but all he really wanted to do was escape them. 

"Awww....how are you going to get home like dat?" Blinking up at Dr. Waipio, Ranma tried to focus and give an intelligent answer. "You not going to walk all that way...and it's cold out." 

Both Ryoga and Akane had offered to carry him. Both had been flatly refused. Carried in Ryoga's arms all that way? What if someone saw them? And while Akane's offer was tempting, the idea of straddling anything right then was not appealing. 

"No shoes...no coat...naaah, you just let me take you home. Come around the front." 

Slapping Tofu on the shoulder, she walked past them, fishing keys out of her pocket. "I'll take 'em home and get them all settled in...you can check on them later. You going to make that phone call?" 

"As soon as you're out the door." 

Nodding, she turned back to the three of them. "Okay Keiki...let's go. Everyone's home waiting for you." 

It was so bright out...and when did the courtyard get so big? Following Akane, Ranma allowed Ryoga to shadow him. Walking shifted everything, tugged on sore muscles. And that one foot hurt like someone had clamped it in a vise. Trying to work through it, he found himself to the street and nearly ran into the motorcycle and sidecar parked there. 

"Here...let me make it nice for you." Putting her bags to the side, Waipio motioned Akane to get in first. "You sit on her lap...keep you warmer that way." 

Looking at her dully, Ranma found himself scooped up by Ryoga and placed neatly into the sidecar. "Hey, what did you do that for?" 

"C'mon, Ranma...just relax." Turning his head, he looked at Akane who only smiled back at him. _Yeah, that's Akane all right...good old Akane...jeez, she smells good...._

"Aren't I too heavy for you?" 

He hardly felt her arms go around him...she knew where the hurts were...but an arm here, a hand there, and he was comfortably nestled against her with his head on her shoulder. He barely noticed the lap robe being tucked in. "No, you're just fine. It's only a little way." 

"Gee, you're being nice to me...how come?" 

"Cos' you're an idiot, Ranma. I can't stand you, and I wish you would - " When the voice caught, he lifted his head. "Ranma..." Akane almost whispered the next words in his ear. "...I was so scared." 

"That makes two of us," he said softly. "Why aren't you mad at me?" 

"What in the world could I be mad at you for?" 

Closing the door, Ryoga stepped around the perimeter of the bike as Dr. Waipio put her helmet on and sat down. "Where do I sit?" 

"Back here, behind me." 

"Here? No way -" 

Lifting his head, Ranma tried to find Ryoga in his field of vision. "Ryoga, just get on the damn thing - it'll take you five years to find the place from here! Hurry up!" 

"He looks a little nervous," Akane said. 

That got a smile. As the bike roared to life and they left Dr. Tofu's clinic, some of what Dr. Tofu had said to her the night before filtered back to her. 

* * *

"Akane, my specialty is fixing broken bodies...I'm not nearly as adept at fixing broken curses. I've called a few of my colleagues, and I'm sure we're going to get to the bottom of this. But in the meantime, Ranma's going to need you...as his fiancée, more than ever. He's going to need someone to be there for him, no matter what." 

"I want to do that for him, Dr. Tofu." 

He had nodded at that. "I understand that. But that means caring for him...putting your own feelings aside. No malleting." 

"Huh?" Turning beet-red, Akane had shifted on the chair like it had turned into a skillet. Tipping her head back with a finger, Dr. Tofu had fixed one of his best faces on her, smiling. 

"No mallets. Got that? You can do just about anything else but tie him to a tree or spank him. You may want to, but you may not mallet Ranma...for about a year." 

"Dr. Tofu!" 

* * *

Looking down at the silky red hair, Akane carefully drew Ranma nearer, fussing with the lap robe as they went down the streets she had ran through the night before - ran so hard, she'd had to work hard to compose herself before she walked in the door. "Ranma?" 

He was asleep, almost a dead weight in her arms. _How could I be angry with him at a time like this?_

_I love him. I do. I did...a long time ago. But I couldn't say it...and now, it was almost too late. Baka mi tai._

"Ranma, " she whispered into the strands of hair that flew into her eyes. "Love you. Love you lots..." 

He didn't wake, even when they reached the dojo. 

* * *

Meeting Ryoga's eyes as he gently took Ranma from her, Akane wondered if her face looked as tired and worn as his. He smiled faintly as he stood and watched her over his shoulder walking through the front gate. Ranma, for the most part, remained asleep, nestling into Ryoga's shoulder with a soft sigh. 

"She's not going to do much for the next couple of days, I think. Jus' sleep, I think." Swinging the helmet off her head onto the handlebars, Dr. Waipio took Ryoga by the elbow and steered him towards the door. "Best thing, maybe." 

"He, doctor. Ranma's a he -" The correction came automatically to Akane as she caught up to them to open the door in front of them. "We're home!" 

The first person she saw was her own father, with Ranma's father Genma standing behind him. "It's as you said, Tendo," she heard him say, as he strode to Ryoga's side to examine his son. 

"Is this your child, then?" Turning to face Dr. Waipio, he met her eyes briefly before he turned back to Ranma, nodding. Dr. Waipio then took him by the arm and pulled him away, kindly but firm. "We need to talk. Later. Let's get the baby settled in first." 

"...Baby..." he repeated absently. "There was something about -" 

"Later. She's lucky to be alive, now." 

Genma's face took on the arrogant cast Akane hated the most. "That's not luck. That's my son! When he's feeling better, we'll go out, find the person who did this..." But he had lost his audience. Seeing Akane look over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs behind Ryoga, Ranma and Dr. Waipio, Genma frowned and crossed his arms. "We'll see about that." 

_I'm sure we will,_ Akane thought to herself. _You say one word to Ranma about this - and I'll...I'll...hmmm. I'll mallet him for sure! Yeah.... _

"Here's his room." Sliding the door open, they parted to allow Ryoga to enter. However, once he crossed over the threshold, Ranma squirmed in his arms, waking up fighting to get loose. 

"The smell! Quick, lemme down...I'm gonna be sick!" Spinning to let Ranma loose, and then out of his way, Ryoga stood back dumbfounded as Ranma quickly pushed his way through the small crowd outside the doorway, and ran down the hall to the bathroom as fast as his injured foot would let him. Akane could hear the door fly open on its tracks, then slam shut as she heard Ranma being undeniably, nosily sick inside. Placing her hands on the doorhandle, she thought twice about what she was about to do. Told her stomach to behave itself. And then slowly pushed the door back and entered, closing it behind her. 

Stepping into the room Ranma shared with his father, Dr. Waipio and Ryoga sniffed the air warily. To Ryoga's eye, nothing had changed - it was a standard tatami mat room, with the sleeping futons folded up and out of the way against one wall, the one window closed. 

"She's pregnant, all right -" 

"What do you mean by that?" 

Walking over to the window, Dr. Waipio slid it open. "Smells like a couple of men live here," she said. "Musty. Your friend's developed a very pregnant 'nose' to that sort of thing. Think we can put her in another room for the time being?" 

"Your nose gets pregnant too?" 

Gently patting him on the cheek, she left the room. "Your whole body gets pregnant, Keiki. Usually the first thing to go is your lunch - and I've known a lot of women who couldn't stand a lot of smelly things right off the bat." 

Walking down the hallway, she hesitated at the bathroom door before opening the door to Akane's room. "Ah, this is much better. Let's put her in here." 

"But that's Akane's room!" 

Ignoring him, she went back to the bathroom door in time to see Ranma emerge, holding his side and leaning heavily on Akane. "God, there is nothing worse than the dry heaves. What was that?" 

"The room was a little stale. You're pregnant. These things happen." Flinching, Ranma looked to Akane and then to Dr. Waipio. 

"No way," he muttered. "No way can I be pregnant." It wasn't really directed at anyone, but Ranma looked down at the arm holding his side as it slid down to feel his belly. "It can't be..." Turning an even paler shade of green, Ranma's knees buckled as he slowly slid to the floor. "Dizzy...hang on a second. I'm okay...really." 

Following his fall to the floor, Akane kept him from falling backwards, holding him against herself while keeping her hands from finding sore spots. Looking up to see Ryoga reaching for Ranma yet again, she tried to help Ranma to his feet. "My room is fine, Ryoga. Let's get him into bed." 

"But it's morning...'M not supposed to go to bed now..." 

"Shush." 

Tucking him in, Ranma merely turned his head and fell back asleep with a deep sigh. With the sun falling on his face, the bruising didn't look as bad. But it didn't mask the hollows in his cheeks or the sunken wells his eyes had become. "Doctor, I tried to get him to drink a little water while we were in there. He couldn't even keep that down." 

She only nodded. "Don't bring any food up here, or any flowers either. No perfumes, pets ...anything that smells strong. That'll help. I think it's also a little leftover from the stuff we did yesterday...no worries. If it doesn't get any better, there are things we can do." 

"Okay." Patting her on the head, Dr. Waipio pulled the desk chair to the side of the bed and led Akane to it. 

"Sit down before you fall down. If you want to stay, stay. But get something to eat first, okay?" 

"Am I that bad?" 

The broad Hawaiian face was lit from within as she smiled down at her. "Are you that good, you should say, hmm? Your instincts are very good...you haven't left her alone for a moment. That's good. But you need to take care of yourself too...or you won't be able to keep it up. Riiight?" 

Akane's eyes fell to her lap. "Him. Ranma's a him, doctor. And he's my fiancée. What else could I do?" 

Feeling her chin being tilted back up with a firm hand, Akane met Dr. Waipio's eyes. "My patients are girls, Keiki. Every last one of 'em. Whatever this Jusenkyo thing is your Dr. Tofu is nattering about, this is a girl right now. With all the plumbing and hormones to go with it." 

"And raped. And p-p-pregnant. Your point?" Feeling the hot tears fall down her cheeks, Akane set her jaw and blinked up at the doctor. 

"You love him, don't you?" 

Her eyes widening, Akane heard Ryoga's choked-off exclamation as the door to her room closed. "Yes," she whispered, searching the face above hers. "Don't tell anyone, please...." 

Bemused as she considered the concept, Dr. Waipio's grin grew broader. "Because your parents arranged it? Because it's what's expected of you?" 

"That...and more. More...I don't know if he feels the same for me, really. Oh, it's just so stupid!" Turning, she dashed the tears away with a quick wipe of her hand. "If I really loved him, he wouldn't have been alone when...by himself and...I would have been with him!" 

Slowly, Dr. Waipio lowered herself to sit on the floor at Akane's feet. "Did you two have a fight or something?" 

Nodding, Akane fell mute as the tears took over and she cried into her hands as quietly as she could, acutely aware of Ranma's presence in the bed next to her. "We...had a huge...f-fight. Over something t-totally s-st-tupid!" 

"Dr. Tofu tells me you fight often, child." 

"We do, " she replied, sobbing miserably. "We do, and I don't know how to stop it. We've got to stop it...too much is at stake now." 

Placing a soft hand on her knee, Dr. Waipio tried to get Akane to look at her. "Let the fight go. Let him win. Let him have the last word, if that's what will end it. I've heard you squabble with him outside my office...just stop yelling for a moment or two." 

Confused, Akane shook her head. "But that only makes him worse! He can be such an arrogant jerk -" 

"Who wants to look good in front of you, I think." 

Sniffling, Akane wiped her eyes and blew her nose. "I wish I hadn't said the things I did..." 

Standing, Dr. Waipio looked over at a soundly sleeping Ranma and gently pulled Akane to her feet. "Come on...I need to get back to my office, you need some breakfast. I'm going to go get my bag and write out some prescriptions one of you can come down to the office and get filled later today." 

"Prescriptions?" 

"Something for pain...she'll need it. An antibiotic, just in case. And some prenatal vitamins. Can't start those too soon, y'know." Taking another tissue from the box, she took a gentle pass at Akane's cheek. "And I think I've got a good book or two to lend you. Maybe I'll just bring them next time I come over...tomorrow, I think." 

"You're coming back tomorrow?" 

Nodding, she put an arm around Akane and steered her towards the door. "Yes, yes...me, your Dr. Tofu are going to be coming over a lot for a couple of weeks to make sure everything stays okay...okay with you, Keiki?" 

Sighing, Akane closed her eyes as she was led from the room. "Thanks. That'll help a lot." But before she did, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror on her desk. Pale, her face looked frozen, eyes large, mouth small and in a straight line. _So that's what I look like scared witless..._

_We won't have to go it alone, Ranma. We're going to have help..._

_Ah, but we're going to need it. I'm so scared...and I don't know what to do! Ranma's hurt...really, really hurt..._ Her mind balked and stumbled over the concept of Ranma being pregnant, even though she had seen first-hand evidence...and it ran screaming into dark corners when she thought of what must have happened beforehand. Raped. Beaten into submission, and raped...left for dead, Ryoga had said. How? Why? _I can't think...can't imagine it. But it's clear it almost killed him...he would have died if Ryoga hadn't found him. It was as bad as I had feared...._

_Does that mean I'm going to be a mother? Or a father? When I marry Ranma...what am I thinking? Will he even want to marry me now? He won't need me to produce heirs for the school now...what will he need me for?_

_And why can't he change back? Is it because he's pregnant? Or did someone do something more than that? Oh, poor Ranma...why didn't I just swallow my pride and go with you to that stupid workshop that day?_

_I'm so stupid...and scared._ Walking down the stairs, she saw the faces of her family sitting around the table below through the doorway. As one, they turned to look at her as they heard her step upon the stairs, every eye expectant and concerned. _What am I going to tell them? What am I going to say?_

_Help. Someone. I don't know what my next move is...I don't know what to say. How do I keep things from getting worse? How do I help Ranma?_

Fixing what she hoped was a pleasant, normal smile on her face, Akane walked into the room. _Somebody, please...help me!_

* * *

There was nothing to compare to the smell of the outdoor air after it rained. Taking a long, deep breath of it, a young man of indeterminate age sat on the stairs outside his home and watched the world go by him. All was well, and that was the way he liked it. 

It was also an unfamiliar feeling as well, apart from his daily routine. He knew if he looked hard enough, he'd find something that needed fixing. A well-used sense also told him not to go looking for trouble. Sighing, he sat back and looked up into the cherry trees in the front yard, noting they were beginning to bud, even though they were still bare of leaves. 

_Maybe I could help it along a little...just this once. It's warm enough...the frost won't catch the new growth any more._

The neighbors were used to their resident gajin. After all, his entire family had lived in the apartment until just recently when he had finished school and began working on his own, and they had returned to America. He was too tall, too fair -- ah, but he was just a friendly gajin, what could one do? He was pleasant and kind enough to suit anyone's taste. At least he spoke Japanese as well as one could ask, and constantly asked questions to better himself. 

And luck seemed to follow him like flowers followed rain. 

_Oh yeah, the blossoms are going to be spectacular this year...wish Mesha was here to see it._ His wistful look was accented by a sigh. 

He was well known at the counseling center down the street as that crazy American that had remarkable success curing people of any sort of addiction or obsession troubling them. When prospective clients finally met with him, however, they discovered there was no easy miracle cure awaiting them. After a thorough interview (and few of the prospective clients found meeting those piercing blue eyes easy), the patient was asked to sit quietly in a darkened room and meditate on whatever it was that troubled them. He would sit there with them, talking quietly for an hour or so. That was all. 

Still, for some reason, the anorexic girls stopped starving themselves, the salarymen who needed to stop drinking, did and anyone who wished to stop smoking found themselves without the slightest need for a cigarette. 

_Wonder if anyone's going to notice...that would be bad. Maybe it's better not to borrow trouble._

It was not easy to meet with him, because he was rarely there. He claimed he had other pressing engagements often, and was scarcely home as he was now...looking up into the cherry trees. 

_The blossoms always looked so beautiful in Mesha's hair...like pink snowflakes._

"Don't." 

Jarred out of his reverie, he straightened up to see a familiar face standing in front of him. "Oh, hello Gabe. Fancy meeting you here." 

"Forcing a cherry tree to bloom early is a little more noticeable than forcing paperwhites, Alex." 

Looking up into the face of a kind old man wearing a woolen overcoat and scarf, the younger man smiled as he put chin into hand. "I was only thinking about it, y'know." 

"Imp." 

"You oughta know." 

Smiling broader, he sat down next to him, mimicking Alex's posture. "You know what they say about idle hands." 

Eyebrows arching, he grinned and winked. "Do tell." 

"Imp twice, then." Gabe replied pleasantly. "Bored?" 

Leaning against the wall, he nodded. "Considerably." 

"Why haven't you gone home to see your folks...or your friends?" 

"Too far away, too busy...and call it a hunch, but I thought you might be dropping in soon. So, I stuck around." Stretching, Alex looked at his supervisor. "Was I right, or did I waste a perfectly good afternoon?" 

The older man only smiled as he met Alex's eyes, when all of a sudden, Alex felt warmer - like being wrapped in a blanket fresh from the dryer. Warm, safe...and the sole object of a boundless affection. Chuckling, he dropped his eyes. "Okay, okay...okay, boss...you didn't come all this way to just to boost my ego. What's up?" 

"Shall we go inside?" 

Frowning, he returned a puzzled look at the older man. "Sure. Don't tell me you're cold." 

Fingering his overcoat and scarf, Gabe chuckled. "Not in the least. But you'll want to be sitting down for this one. Someplace reasonably soundproof would also be good." 

Eyebrows raised, Alex stood. "Soundproof? You've got to be kidding." 

"Never." 

Alex fumbled in his pocket for the keys. "Don't keep me in the dark...what is it?" 

"Put the water on, my boy. We're about to have company." 

Curiosity alight, Alex moved to unlock and open the door ahead of the old man, but before he followed him, he turned to look up into the branches of the tree again. _There...that branch oughta do._

As neatly as one could ask, one of the branches near the top severed itself and floated slowly down into Alex's waiting hand. Turning to go inside, he stared at it while passing the other hand over it - and the branch sprouted leaves and bloomed as he held it. Trailing petals, Alex stepped inside his home, breathing in the fragrance from the cherry blossoms. _When I marry Mesha...these will be someplace nearby...not in her bouquet, maybe...but on the tables at the reception...or on the altar perhaps...._

_God, I miss her. Five more years. Five more, and she'll say she's ready. Wish it was five minutes...._

"Alex? Come inside." 

"All right...all right already - keep your halo on!" 

You didn't keep the archangel Gabriel waiting, you know. _Guests, huh? Good thing I did the dishes this morning...._

* * *

It wasn't a surprise to see Moran sitting on the couch...oh, no. You were supposed to get used to seeing Justicars popping in and out of your living room, oh sure... Avoiding the urge to flinch and run into the kitchen, Alex smiled at one of the few people he genuinely never wanted to offend and shook the outstretched hand when it was offered to him. "Gabe, a soundproof room...and now a Justicar has come to see me. This is getting better all the time. So either of you want to tell me what's up?" 

Moran simply shrugged and found a comfortable position on the couch. In his job, he didn't get too many chances to lounge around, and he was taking full advantage of it. "I think your Dr. Kyniogi will have the most succinct description when he calls. About now, I would think," he added, hazel-green eyes twinkling. 

Alex looked at the two of them in blunt confusion. "I haven't heard from him in years...not since I graduated from high school. What would he want with -" Interrupted by the phone ringing, he went over to pick up the cordless as he saw a matching expression flit across both faces. _Oh yeah, they're up to something. They look so cool, I doubt butter would melt in their mouths._

Being told who was going to call was one thing. Actually hearing the voice was another. And then the punch line. "He's said what?" 

Sitting down in the chair facing the couch, Alex started asking questions of his old high school teacher, knowing his voice was rising but found it harder to find and form the words than to control the volume. "Let me get this straight..." 

Kyniogi-sensei was as patient as Alex remembered him. "My old friend Dr. Tofu Ono needs someone knowledgeable about Jusenkyo curses. He needs someone who can give good advice and who won't shy away from strange situations." Chuckling, he added, "The only person I could think of was you, Alex my boy. I'm certain you'll do right by Ono-san." Well, so far, so good...but the why of it...mentally, Alex whistled. 

"Of course I'll stop by to see Dr. Tofu...I'll do it first thing tomorrow, sure. No, it's no trouble at all. I'll let you know..." Looking up to see two sets of expectant eyes waiting for him to finish, Alex tried to wind it up. "Let me get off the phone and get started, doctor. No, thank you for calling. I'll get on it right away. Good-bye, then." 

Turning the phone off and placing it on the coffee table, Alex sat back, steepling his fingers in front of him. "He didn't call you guys, that I know. But you know what's going on....don't you?" 

"Something has attacked a martial artist by the name of Ranma Saotome ... something with the power to lock a Jusenkyo curse ... something strong enough to kill." Sitting forward to rest elbows on knees, Moran allowed his hands to rest loosely folded between his knees. "Or so it appeared at first." 

The name was unfamiliar. "Ranma's a --?" 

"Ranma's a boy. Nineteen years old." Moran sighed as Alex shifted in his chair, his eyes narrowing. "When he was found, the amount of distress to his loved ones was...enormous. He's well thought of...and the degree of injury was simply incomprehensible." 

"Dr. Tofu spoke of a girl to Dr. Kyniogi." Sighing, Alex looked over to see Gabe reappear from the kitchen with a tray. "Now what the heck do you think you're doing ... would you give me that? All you had to do was ask -" 

"You were busy." Deftly avoiding Alex, Gabe finished the task by setting the tea tray on the coffee table and began pouring out three cups. "And this will be thirsty work. Here." 

Re-seating himself, he took the proffered cup. "Thank you," he grumbled. "So are we dealing with one victim or two?" 

"Ranma's the reason you're getting the job, Alex. The Guardian who was alerted to the problem in the first place thought it best to turn the case over to someone with experience specifically in Jusenkyo curses." Swirling cream and sugar into his cup, Moran took a long pull as his face became thoughtful. "They're talking about the same person...but the number of victims is rapidly growing. It wasn't Ranma that alerted me, Alex...it was his fiancée. Even his closest rival is badly shaken." 

"They got your attention. There was no other Guardian, Moran. They got your attention, didn't they?" Cutting eyes with the Justicar, Alex took a sip himself. 

A wry expression appeared on the long face as the eyebrows met over his eyes. "So they did," he said, smiling. Alex liked Moran, always had - but he never forgot that he had been a Guardian long before he became a Justicar, and had been a Justicar longer than Alex had been alive. The leaf-brown hair was heavily laden with silver, but was still recognizably brown and the face was that of a man barely into middle-age. "And unfortunately, they've kept it. Ranma Saotome is a martial artist...a good one. The heir to an entire school, and when I hear him spoke of, the word talent always enters the conversation. He's good. Very good." 

"Too good for something like this to happen...in normal space. And somehow, Jusenkyo-cursed." Looking into the teacup, Alex watched the fragments of tea leaves swirl to the bottom. "Kyniogi mentioned a girl...that would imply a dip in the Spring of Drowned Girl for Ranma Saotome." 

"Indeed." 

Looking up over the rip of the cup, a cold chill ran across the top of his head as Alex silently prayed he had missed a step in deduction. "He also said rape." 

Moran nodded. "Hai." 

That's when the cup hit the floor, breaking into many pieces. "How the hell - hang on a moment while I clean this up." Staring at the fragments, Alex watched them come back together, even as the last of the tea it had held replaced itself in the cup. Floating in the air a few inches from his face, he checked it over carefully before allowing it to settle onto the tea tray again. Closing his eyes, he rubbed the spot between them that was fast beginning to ache. _Oh, just let me get my hands on this guy..._"And his curse is locked in the on position. Greeeat. When do I start?" 

"Oh, but there's more." Setting his cup down to pour another, Moran looked over to Gabe for confirmation. 

Leaning on the armrest of Alex's chair, Gabe looked down as Alex twisted his head to look up. "Something tells me I'm not going to like this," Alex said softly. 

"He was only missing for three days," Gabe replied. "When you see Ranma, you'll know immediately that time has been altered for him somehow. The injuries bear out a longer span of time. Some are nearly healed...some are fresh. And he has no memory of what attacked him." 

"It wasn't just a beating, then. Oh jeez, this stuff always makes me sick. What would attack a martial artist over a span of weeks and make it look like he'd only be gone a couple of days? And then not take credit for doing so?" Taking the tea cup into both hands, Alex let the warmth seep back into fingers grown cold as the tickle of adrenaline made his stomach do flip flops. "You're concerned about something more long-term than a broken arm, then. It's the attacker we're after. Moran?" 

He had the wits to look uncomfortable. "We don't get called in to do a lot of hand-holding, Alex. I'd say Ranma was very lucky today...except I've never seen anything to make me believe in luck for its own sake. He's been beaten, raped and left for dead...and he's still very sick." 

"And what's locked the curse could still be hanging around to finish him off. Finish off someone else while he's at it." 

"Precisely." But as he made his point, Moran's face grew somber. "It's my belief that there have already been more attacks. Whether they are related...we'll know more once you're on the scene, Alex." 

"But -" 

Here Moran took another deep breath and rose, meeting Gabe's eyes as he did so. Walking behind the couch, he began to pace, one hand gesturing, the other tucked neatly behind his back. It was the beginning of a lecture...Alex had seen the posture before. Many times before in the ethics classes Moran had "taught" the last year he had been in high school. _Okay, there's the wind-up...and where's the pitch?_

"Alex...both Gabe and I...well, we've talked a lot about this and..." 

Stalling? Moran was stalling? "You're the Guardian who took the call, Moran. Quit backpedaling. It's not like you're sending me to the gates of hell to borrow a box of matches. " Toying with the now empty cup, he watched Moran flinch and then glare at him. 

"You? I'd expect you to steal that box of matches and burn the place down, mister," he retorted. "But more to the point, I'm of the firm belief you are going to end up very dead if we give you this job." 

_Oh, please...he must be remembering that last youma he thought was only a bump in the road. I took care of that rather neatly, I recall...._ "You must be joking. Me?" 

"The concern he carries has nothing to do with your ability to deal with a purely physical threat." Gabe moved to take Moran's seat on the couch across from Alex as Moran remained standing, growing more and more somber. "He thinks you might have some trouble remaining objective. While I agree with him, I disagree on the end result. I'm not sure the results would be bad for you. You're still very young...and this task will make you stretch in ways you can not yet imagine." 

The expression on Alex's face grew wary. "Just how big is this thing?" 

Gabe smiled as Moran choked and chuckled softly into his hand, eyes twinkling. "That's not the point, Alex," he said softly. "This will not be a lesson in warfare...but one of love." 

That got his full attention. "Love? I don't get you." 

"You won't. Not yet, anyway." Standing, Gabe placed the cup back on the tray, clearly making preparations to leave as Moran stepped around the couch to stand at his side. "In many ways, Ranma Saotome is the Guardian of his house - you will sense that as well, I'm certain. Go see Dr. Tofu tomorrow, as Kyniogi asked. Much more will be made clear to you then." 

"I'm to find out why Ranma's curse is locked...and then?" 

Moran spoke then. "Then, we see. We'll be in touch." 

Watching as they both phased out of sight, Alex leaned back into his chair as his gaze drifted towards the ceiling. "You know," he muttered into the silence left behind. "It would have been nice to have been asked if I wanted this job. But noooo....I gotta get destiny laid on me." Closing his eyes, he pinched the bridge of his nose between two fingers. "Love, huh? Maybe his fiancée's a really good cook...or something." 

* * *

The sun shone brightly through the window, casting shadows across the breakfast table and chair as Dr. Tofu sat quietly finishing his morning tea ritual. Trying to organize his thoughts into the schedule for the day, he heard the sound of a bell ring, and the sound of a bicycle being brought to a halt outside the gate to his front porch. Rising, he went to the window. 

Looking down, a slight crease formed between his eyes as he took in the sight of a tall, slender foreigner dressed in clothing more suited to a college student than a fellow physician. Finger-combing blond hair into place, the stranger turned to look directly up into the window he was sitting behind, shrugged the high school letter jacket onto his shoulders and put the kickstand down on a old three-speed bicycle with a basket on the front, and a rack on the back. Consulting a scrap of paper pulled from a pocket, he looked over the address on the wall, then looked up at the window again. 

_Well, I'd better go let him in, then. It must be Matthews...he fits the description Kyniogi gave me. But he's so young!_

Meeting him at the door, he was pleased to discover that the young man knew how to greet him properly, bowing just enough and extending a business card for him to examine. Except it didn't have a business listed on it, just his name and an address. Curious, but acceptable. 

"Please come in, Mr. Matthews. Dr. Kyniogi speaks very highly of you." 

The younger man smiled wryly as he entered the waiting room. "Dr. Ono, I still think of my father as 'Mr. Matthews.' Would you please call me Alex?" 

He spoke in nearly accentless Japanese, lightly touched with an American tang. The request was a bit forward for him, but it was an honest one and in keeping with his age. In spite of himself, Dr. Tofu found himself smiling. "I think that will be all right," he responded. "Would you like some tea?" 

"Yes, please. It's still a little cold in the mornings." 

"So, it is." 

Shedding the jacket and changing shoes as they walked back to Dr. Tofu's office, the doctor watched as his guest quietly took in his surroundings. He knew he was a tall man, surely his mother had made that clear to him growing up, but he had met many foreigners...gajin...who had been much taller. This man looked him in the eye with a friendly gaze, but somehow managed to put him at ease by not staring directly into his face. Like a lot of the foreigners he had met, his coloring was as bright as a tropical bird next to the typical Japanese...golden hair, blue eyes with green and amber flecks in them. Sea-colored, they would say. "What were you told?" he asked softly, as they both found their seats in his office. 

Taking his cup with both hands, the guest took a deep sip, exhaling softly. "Something that might be better told to the police and handled by a trained therapist," he said softly. "But I think you've already taken care of that." 

"So, I have. Dr. Kyniogi told you about Ranma Saotome, then?" 

"Hai." 

Taking a sip from his own cup, Dr. Tofu found himself at a loss. Where to begin? What should come first? He toyed with one set of facts, then another...unsure which was more important. 

"Doctor, whatever you choose to tell me will remain in the strictest confidence. It won't be repeated. Why don't you start at the beginning?" Looking up, he met the other man's eyes and was reassured when he saw nothing more than a patient interest. 

"You've had some experience as a therapist yourself, I see. Kyniogi said you were licensed, but I didn't get the impression that was your chosen profession." 

Alex shrugged, but the smile grew a bit wider as he shook his head. "I needed one to do what I do down at the center. I'm a good listener. It comes with the territory." 

"Well, what you might hear now will be hard to believe. It sounds ludicrous in my own ears. What do you know about a place called Jusenkyo?" 

That made the young man raise his eyebrows. "Training ground of accursed springs...it's in China." When that caused his mouth to drop open, Dr. Tofu was only slightly more surprised when his guest chuckled. "Doctor, you told Dr. Kyniogi about a girl with a Jusenkyo curse that was causing some trouble. He called me because I have a friend who visited the place with his father some years ago." 

"Really." Picking his jaw up off the floor, Tofu's eyes narrowed. "And which spring did your friend fall into?" 

Straight-faced, Alex replied evenly. "Spring of drowned tiger." 

Tofu sat back in his chair. "You're joking. A tiger?" 

"Big, white, fuzzy...When I pushed Terry into the pool my first day in high school, I got the surprise of a lifetime." It was a favorite memory, Tofu could tell by the expression on Alex's face. "I quite literally let the cat out of the bag, so to speak." Then his face fell as the memory completed itself. "When he got out of the pool, however ...let's just say he got even with me." 

"What happened?" 

"I got slimed." Tofu smiled as his guest shifted in his chair uncomfortably. "I got the Mamma-cat-bath washing from hell." 

Tofu couldn't help it, he started laughing. "So, I don't think there's anything I can say about Jusenkyo that would upset or shock you." 

"Nope." The pleasant interest returned to the younger man's face as he smiled gently. "You can try, though. Dr. Kyniogi mentioned a girl..." 

"Ah. Well, there's the problem. Ranma is normally a young man." That didn't faze Alex, and Dr. Tofu cocked an eyebrow at him. 

Blinking, the other man looked away. "Dr. Kyniogi mentioned a girl...with a locked curse," he said, tracing a fingertip through the ring his teacup had made on the table. "Perhaps I should tell you what he told me?" 

Taking a chart off the top of the inbox pile, Dr. Tofu opened it and laid it flat on the desk between them. "I've known Ranma since he and his father came to Nerima some years ago. I've known his fiancée and her family even longer. This -- what happened day before yesterday -- I don't...." 

"Believe." Meeting his eyes, the younger man placed a gentle hand on the chart and silently asked to see it with his raised eyebrows. Releasing it, Tofu sat back. "You don't believe that this could have happened to him. He was attacked...beaten...raped." 

Tofu nodded silently. "He was found in a near-coma from exposure. We treated him for that with warm blankets...and water hot enough to trigger a transformation." 

"He didn't change back." 

"No." Looking down into his now-empty teacup, Dr. Tofu sighed. "We think it might have something to do with his pregnancy." 

The crash of the teacup hitting the floor and a string of muttered English curses brought Tofu's head back up with a snap. Alex was picking up the pieces, carefully stacking the shards to one side while he was talking, but he was certain it wasn't something he wanted the good doctor to hear. Meeting his eyes sheepishly, Alex wiped his hands on his pantlegs before picking the chart up again. "Sorry." 

He scanned it quickly, but it was clear he wasn't reading aloud as he muttered to himself behind the concealment of the chart. Dr. Tofu knew enough of the words to recognize a name, and a few of the profanities. "Mister Alex?" 

Putting the chart down, Alex stopped muttering as he did so, meeting Tofu's eyes with a look of pure contrition. "I am so sorry for that. I sure hope you didn't understand much of it. I need to have a little talk with my boss when I finish here with you, that's all." Taking a deep breath, he sat back in the chair as he blew air. "He's pregnant. Oh, boy." He closed the chart and handed it back to him. "Wow. Well, I can tell you one thing. Pregnancy does not lock a Jusenkyo curse, that I know of. The results are somewhat mixed, though." 

"You're certain of this?" Alex nodded. "So, if Ranma could change back...he'd be a pregnant boy?" 

Alex grimaced as he looked away again. "I'm not going to think about it and neither should you." 

He couldn't help it, Tofu started laughing in spite of himself. Looking up to meet his eyes, Alex blew air as he looked away, grinning. "I can see that keeping a sense of humor is going to be paramount," Tofu said softly. "What else can we do?" 

"You're right. It's just too strange, neh?" 

Strange didn't begin to explain it. As he said the word 'strange,' Alex watched Dr. Tofu's face fall again into worry and concern. He was also more than a little uncomfortable. "Doctor? I'm sure you had something in mind when you called Dr. Kyniogi. I take it you would like me to meet this Ranma of yours." 

Sighing, he toyed with the chart. "Yes, but to what end? I'm not sure -- I don't know enough about you, no offense of course...but I'm not at all certain involving outsiders is the best course." 

Alex nodded. "If you weren't concerned about that, I would have been. This is -- how do I say it? An insult -- both physically and emotionally. I wouldn't be surprised to find your patient more like a wounded animal trying to find a place to hide and lick his wounds." 

"Just so," Tofu replied in a soft voice. "I spoke to his fiancée this morning -- her name's Akane, really sweet girl -- Akane told me he's not eating, barely sleeping and when he does, he wakes screaming. My associate, Dr. Waipio is very concerned. She's talking about hospitalizing Ranma." 

Alex's face darkened, shaking his head. "I understand the concern, but I don't think that's wise." 

"How so?" 

Bringing the chart back to him with a finger on the cover, Alex idly spun the folder as he talked. "We could explain it. We could try to explain it. Perhaps they would even believe it." Looking up, he met Tofu's eyes. "And then that shift goes home. Every twelve hours, we'd have to explain it all again. Maybe every time they'd believe it. Think we'd get that lucky?" 

"No." Sighing, Tofu sat back, taking his now empty cup with him. "The one time I know of when Ranma actually spent some time in the hospital, he was bandaged head to toe with no chance of getting wet...as a man. We never had to say anything about a girl who thought she was a boy...and acted like a boy...and now that this has happened...." 

"Who wouldn't think he'd gone over the edge? This is a pregnant woman who was raped. They'd lock him up for sure." Taking the shards of the broken teacup, Alex pushed the chart to one side, and piled them in the center of the desk. "There's another reason Dr. Kyniogi recommended me, I think. Maybe this will ease your mind a bit." 

Looking first to Alex's face with a slight frown, Tofu's attention was drawn immediately back to the pile of broken ceramics on his desk as they shifted of their own accord...and then reassembled themselves into a cup before his eyes. Even the tiny chips that had broken off between the fragments fit themselves into place as he watched. Then, the cracks became lines...and then disappeared. Feeling his jaw drop, Tofu watched as the cup levitated itself, spinning in place as if to show him that no defects remained, and his teapot rose to meet it in mid-air and poured another cup of tea. 

Following the pieces as they settled themselves - the teapot back on the table, the cup going to Alex's hands - Tofu found himself staring at the young man with his mouth standing open. 

"I really love these cups. I break a lot of them, so I've gotten good at doing this. Are you all right?" 

As the younger man took a sip from the cup, looking at him over the rim, Tofu found himself trying not to act like a fool - and was fully aware that he already looked like one. _Well, that at least isn't new. I can survive that -- but the first question I'm going to ask him..._

"How did you do that?" 

"It's not a dumb question." 

"Huh?" 

"It's not a dumb question, and no, you don't look as stupid as you feel. Calm down." When Tofu raised his head, his expression changing from one of surprise to confusion, Alex took a long drink from the cup to finish its contents before putting it down again, waving one hand at Tofu. "You can imagine my reaction the first time that happened, right? I wasn't born this way, y'know." 

"You weren't?" 

Alex's smile grew as he closed his eyes and nodded. "No, I wasn't. Dr. Kyniogi knows this -- that, and my friend Terry are probably the reasons he recommended me." He sighed deeply, his eyes going back to the teacup as he began to push it from side to side with a finger. "Dr. Tofu, I was a young kid when I was recruited...to be one of the people you don't see holding things together when they go bad. There are a lot of things I can 'do' -- this is just a little sample." 

Finding his own cup, Tofu finished the minute contents and reached for the teapot to refill it, taking a moment to reassure himself of the weight, the realness of it. "What does that make you, then?" 

"People call us a lot of things - we refer to ourselves as Guardians." 

That prompted a raised eyebrow from Tofu, then a head-cock. "Guardians of what?" 

"Quite a bit, actually. You name it." Alex smiled again. "That's one of the hardest parts of my job - trying to explain what I do and how it's done." Looking around the room, it appeared that Alex was looking for something. "Let's see...I've already shown you one thing -- it's useful, but doesn't really represent much in the way of scope -- ah, there we go. Is this what I think it is?" 

A more woebegone example of a bonsai would have been hard to find. Floating across the room from its perch on the windowsill, it settled itself on top of the chart, shedding the few needles from the even fewer branches it had. "Don't tell me, let me guess. Patient brought it to you?" 

"Old man Tanaka brought it last summer. I'll admit I have no talent for keeping the things alive...but I watered it faithfully and thought it was doing well." 

"Until the rains came. You watered it well all right...too well. Poor thing is drowning in your kindness, Dr. Tofu." Tofu watched as Alex began to stare intently at the little tree. "I think we can save it, though." 

His eyes slowly closed as he lifted a hand over the little tree, palm down and for a moment, Tofu wondered if he was the recipient of a prank. Then the unmistakable sensation of the movement of chi, of power...and the little tree turned green underneath its bark, the roots taking firmer root in drier, richer soil. As Alex opened his eyes again, they remained half-closed in almost sleepy regard of the subject in front of them. But Tofu noted something new in the other's face. As the little tree grew new needles, the tiny branches unfurling in minute contortions as he watched, flecks of golden light danced in the young man's eyes like tiny sparks of electricity. Taking his hand away, they dimmed and disappeared, leaving Alex's eyes the color he had noted before - a mixture of blue, green and amber. Looking up at him, he smiled. 

"Healing isn't one of my best talents, but it wasn't hard to figure out what it needed. A little more work and I might be able to tell you what kind of fertilizer it needs, but I doubt my high school chemistry is up to describing it." 

Standing up, Alex took up the little bonsai and returned it to its place on the windowsill. "Consider this a little sample. I can effect change, Dr. Tofu. Vast amounts of change, in a short period of time -- that might be the simplest way to put it. We're troubleshooters, fixers...shoot, the last job I had included pushing some asteroids back into place without letting any of them crash into something important. Like us." 

Sitting back in his chair, the look he gave Alex as he adjusted his glasses held a glint of respect, though the balance was sheer skepticism. "I don't blame you," Alex added. "I didn't believe it either when the offer came." 

"Who -- you said you were recruited, didn't you? Who selected you?" 

Turning away from the windowsill, Alex smiled. It was clearly a favorite memory. "The archangel Gabriel. Technically, I'm on a mission for God." 

That prompted a narrowing of the eyes on Dr. Tofu's part as he sat a bit straighter in his chair. "Really." 

Nodding, Alex turned to lean against the sill. "Uh huh, you got it. But before you wonder how much longer you have to humor me before you kick the missionary out of your office, I probably should tell you that a colleague of mine claimed he was recruited by Kannon himself, another by the merciful Kwan-yin. Some of my best friends were recruited by deities I'd never heard of from the old Norse myths. Guardians are chosen from all faiths, doctor, it isn't necessary for us to convert anyone. I mean, when everyone offers prayers - who are they are praying to, anyway?" 

Chastened, Tofu smiled himself and chuckled. "I guess they're all going to the same place, after all." 

"Exactly. We keep a very low profile, doctor." 

"The better to work unimpeded. I understand." 

"I can also see things others can't, doctor. I can't be fooled." Closing his eyes, Alex shook his head. "I'm almost tempted to take this one on just to see what a pregnant boy looks like. For the record, someone with a Jusenkyo curse in the "on" position shows up as a ghost image of themselves overlaying the cursed form they're in at the time. Ranma won't look like a girl to me. Terry used to make me dizzy until I got used to it." 

Folding his arms in front of him, Alex's expression grew thoughtful as he watched Dr. Tofu do the same in unintentional imitation. "You'll do." Dr. Tofu said after a long moment of silence stretched between them. Alex only grinned and ducked his head. 

"Fine, let's get started then. Tell me more about this Ranma fellow..." 

Smiling, Dr. Tofu stood and motioned Alex towards the door. "I'll do you one better than that. I'd like you to come with me and meet him right now. My colleague can meet us there." 

"A house call?" Doing as he was bade, Alex found himself back in the waiting room and changing back into outdoor shoes as Dr. Tofu did the same. "I wouldn't want to intrude." 

"Not at all. They're expecting us." Taking his jacket off the coat rack, offering Alex his own Dr. Tofu quickly stepped into the exam room for a satchel and lead the way out of the offices. "Would you mind walking your bike there? It's not far." 

"No, that's fine. We can talk on the way there." 

Nodding, Tofu closed the door behind them. "Ranma's father is also cursed, by the way. That's the only blood relative he has living with him right now." 

"His father turns into his mother." 

"No, he turns into a panda. Rather nice fellow, actually. Had him working here at the office for a while doing odd jobs." 

"As a panda?" 

"Well, it did make answering the phone difficult." 

_Oh boy. Gabe, we are going to have words about this one..._ "You said he has a fiancé?" 

"Yes, well...Ranma and his father live with her family. They own a dojo that both of their families would like to see them continue." Closing the gate, Alex fetched his bike and they continued to walk leisurely toward their destination. 

"I see. So this is an arranged marriage?" 

"So far, it's just an engagement. Their families remain hopeful." This last was delivered with a wry grin that made Alex pause and look Dr. Tofu in the eye. "Let's just say Akane has not been his only suitor, or the only girl his father has engaged for him to marry." 

"But he must spend a lot of time as a girl...surely that would complicate things." 

"Surely, it does indeed." 

The good doctor was right - it wasn't far to the Tendo dojo from his office, just long enough for him to impart the basics of what he knew about the Tendo and Saotome families. 

"But where are the mothers?" 

"Soun's wife died when the girls were very young, and he never remarried. Genma...hmm." Tofu sighed. "I understand his wife is still living, though they've been separated most of Ranma's life." 

"Terrific. How much does Ranma see of his mother?" 

"I don't think he has any contact with her at all. If I remember properly, I believe something about the two of their curses is in the way. Whether it was bestiality on the part of the husband or gender on the part of the son...perhaps both. Remember these are martial families, Alex. The expectations tend to be higher." 

"So she knows about them?" 

"No. And I believe they wish it to stay that way." 

Arriving at the front gate, Alex absently noted the signs to the side identifying the Tendo dojo as such, with the directions towards the rear if one was disposed to engage the owner in a match. Parked to the side was a motorcycle with sidecar, with a generously sized woman removing her helmet and shaking her hair out as she walked around to the sidecar to fetch a matching satchel to Dr. Tofu's, and a heavily laden canvas shopping bag. 

"Good morning, Walelia. Would you like some help?" 

She only grinned back at him as she slammed the door shut. "Nah, I'm fine. Is that who I think it is?" 

Stepping aside to allow Alex to approach Dr. Waipio with an outstretched hand, Dr. Tofu was pleased to see a match of her smile on the other man's face. "This is Alex Matthews, late of Ochiyo Counseling Center. He was a student of my colleague's." 

"The one you told me about? Nice work." She took the outstretched hand and gave returned it with a firm grip. "He told you about all this?" 

Nodding assent, Alex only smiled broader. "I think I might be able to help." 

"Sure you wanna go in there?" It was an odd question and Alex didn't prevent his face from showing it. "You go in there, you won't come back out again thinking the same, I guarantee it." 

_How many people are going to try to warn me off this one? _ "Doctor, I won't say I laugh in the face of danger. But I can't imagine -" 

"Danger? Hah. You more a danger to them than they to you, keiki. Come on." Walking up to ring the doorbell, Dr. Tofu and Alex shared a look between them that left Alex a little puzzled. It was clear he agreed with her. 

"Jus' one more thing," she added. "You got one thing to remember in here." 

"And that would be?" 

"They love. They get mad, they fight, they make up. But they love. Don't let 'em try to tell you different. Don' let the duty fool you. They all love. And if they'll have ya, they love ya. Nothin' less." 

_A lesson in love...I think I'm beginning to see what Moran was all hyped up about. And Ranma is the Guardian of this house...._ "Dr. Waipio, that's one of the strangest warnings anyone has ever given me." 

She only turned and looked at him over her shoulder. "Sure hope you ate your Wheaties this morning, haole." 

The gate being open, they went directly to the front door where it was opened by a girl only slightly younger than Alex himself with long chestnut hair and gentle eyes. "Why Kasumi...how strange we should meet here, of all places!" 

"Oh, Dr. Tofu...you can be so silly." The girl smiled as she raised a hand to chastely cover her face as she backed away from the door to allow them to enter. "Good morning, please come in. Who's your friend? Will you be staying for tea?" 

Gauging reactions from the doctors, Alex found himself laughing inside, but concerned as well. Dr. Tofu was clearly smitten with the young lady, and it was well known to her. Dr. Waipio, on the other hand, saw other things in Kasumi's face, and wasn't happy about it. But good manners dictated he wait until the greetings were properly concluded before saying anything. 

A very proper Japanese household, indeed. It took fifteen minutes to get inside the door. However, by the time that was done, it was known who they all were, why they were there and what could be expected from the three of them. Kasumi seemed to be genuinely interested in him, a fine trait in a hostess and was kind and thoughtful in the bargain. Bringing the three of them into the living room, she stayed in front of them. All the while the conversation being held at the breakfast table remained in full swing, the participants completely ignoring them. 

"All of our training, and he allows this to happen? Tendo, I deeply apologize, but I begin to wonder if the boy is worthy to carry on the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts, I truly do." The man making the statement caught Alex's attention first, the realization that this was probably Ranma's father making his heart sink. A man in his middle years, dressed in a white karate gi, complete with a headscarf, glasses that looped completely over his ears and bare feet, he looked the part of the mature sensei. His posture was one of confident arrogance, arms crossed and back straight as a ramrod, his legs folded in front of him. "You know as well as I that a parent does everything they can for their child, but this! And I am to believe he is pregnant? A true martial artist would never allow such a thing, I know I trained him better than that. Once he is well enough, he and I shall leave to find the perpetrator and I shall deal with him myself! Such shame, Tendo. Such shame. Forgive me." 

"Daddy, you can't expect me to take that seriously! He's talking as if Ranma asked for this!" Sitting primly across the table from Genma was a smaller version of Kasumi, with short hair so black the highlights were almost blue in the daylight from the open door to the garden outside. "If anyone is going to go, it's going to be me." 

The object of their attention, another man in his middle years who posture spoke clearly of years of training, raised his head to look at the both of them slowly, gauging their reactions. The other man didn't meet his eyes, but the girl did. 

"And it's going to be now, Daddy. Are you with me?" 

_I've got to get in there...somehow. But if I just butt in without being invited..._Alex's attention moved from young girl to father, straining to find a way to interject. Looking to Kasumi, he saw that she simply stood with them at the doorway, her hands neatly folded in front of her. _She's waiting too. Better take my cues from someone who knows more than I do._

"Akane, you will do no such thing," he said slowly, as inwardly Alex cheered. Dressed in a gi of black, Soun's arms were also crossed, his legs neatly folded. His daughter sat on her legs, dressed in casual attire of a jumper and sweater against the early spring chill, her posture deflating visibly as her father continued to speak. "Saotome, I appreciate your concern for my welfare, but we shall put that aside for now and continue this discussion later. We have guests." 

Turning to face them was another young girl, the middle Tendo daughter by process of elimination. She faced her father as Akane had faced Genma at the table, but she only continued to finish her breakfast, looking over her shoulder as her father mentioned them. Her poise was perfect to the point of indifference, but her eyes missed nothing. Putting her rice bowl aside, she got to her feet without a single wasted motion and walked directly to him, looking him full in the face. "My daddy can be very rude." Smiling, she nodded a small bow towards the two doctors she knew. "Good morning. I take it you're here to see Ranma?" 

"I'm sorry, where are my manners?" Snapping out of his Kasumi-induced reverie, Dr. Tofu rushed through the introductions, including Alex's. Seeing that each of them met his eyes as he was introduced, Alex quickly felt acutely aware that he was on display. Soun and Genma clearly took his measure and dismissed him just as quickly. Nabiki continued to stare, a small quirk forming at the corner of her mouth at the mention of his "knowledge of Jusenkyo curses," just as her sister's face became more and more animated. Her eyes fixed on him as if she had thrown him a rope and begged him to catch it. 

"You have a friend like Ranma? Matthews-san..." Getting to her feet even more nimbly than her sister, Akane walked to him and took the hand he automatically offered between her own. They were small, warm hands and she looked up with eyes the color of dark amber, clear caramel fringed with black curled lashes that matched the color of her hair. She also looked drained and a quick glance at her plate confirmed she hadn't touched a bite. Thrumming through her was outrage, fire underneath her well-polished exterior -- loud and persistent..._unfair. Unfair and I don't know what to do... Wrong! ...do something...Ranma...hurt, and I don't know what to do...and he wants to do what with Ranma? Unfair...help me. Someone help me...stop him...do something!_

_Even I can hear her._ "My name is Alex, if you would allow me...Miss Akane?" It was only partly an act, but her face crinkled into a demure smile at the precise, painfully correct Japanese Alex knew had hit the right note. Not a native speaker, he often had to judge his success with communication in two ways - in this case, that his message had been accepted as polite enough, as well as being understood. "Miss Akane...sit down and finish your breakfast, please." 

"If you can get her to eat, you're way ahead of everyone this morning." That would be Nabiki, at his other shoulder. 

"Nabiki..." The look Akane shot her sister would have felled a tree, but the object of her attention only shrugged. 

"If you really want to be helpful Akane, you might hurry up and finish so we can go out and get that bed you were talking about." Folding her arms in front of her, Nabiki patiently stared down at her sister, who abruptly looked away and began to fidget. 

"I don't think so," Akane replied. "Going out, that is. Ranma might --" 

Absently noting that Kasumi had started clearing the dishes from the table, Alex watched as the men left the room and went outside to sit at the edge of the veranda with their backs to them. But just as Kasumi was about to clear Akane's untouched dishes away, she stopped and looked up at Alex and raised her eyebrows. "Perhaps Mister Alex would like some breakfast too, Akane. Why don't you ask him?" 

_I had breakfast. I had plenty of breakfast...._ "That sounds good," he heard Dr. Waipio say behind him. "He can have a little bit to eat while I'm doing my work upstairs. It would be better than way." Looking over his shoulder, he received a quick wink for his trouble as the two of them left the room and began climbing the stairs. 

Looking down at the hand she still held between her own, Akane bit her lip. It was clear she had been neatly trapped into both entertaining a guest and eating a meal she had no appetite for. To decline either would be rude, and if he tried to decline it himself, he would insult her as well. "Looks like I'm having breakfast with Akane Tendo," he whispered down to her. "Hope your sister's a good cook." 

"She's very good," she replied wryly. "C'mon." Leading him back to the table, she motioned him to take the seat Nabiki had vacated. Carefully settling himself into the correct seated position, he looked up to see Akane watching him with no little interest and a small smile. Nabiki settled herself into the seat across the table from her sister, as Kasumi returned with a teapot, cups and a small stack of dishes. 

"You were talking about getting a bed?" Leaning back to allow Kasumi to set the table for him, he also noticed Nabiki pouring tea for the two of them. As soon as Kasumi finished, however, he made certain Nabiki had a cup steaming in front of her as well. Acknowledging the courtesy with a raised eyebrow, she took it with a sly smile. 

"Well, yes of course," Nabiki answered. "Akane made the observation that sleeping on the floor with only a futon might not be comfortable for Ranma. I'd have to agree." 

"Ranma and his father have shared a guest room upstairs since they arrived here, Nabiki. They're still using the pillows and bedrolls from their packs, for goodness sake!" Taking her pair of chopsticks in hand, Akane angrily stabbed into a fresh bowl of rice as soon as Kasumi handed it to her. But as soon as the bite was on the chopsticks, her grip faltered and she put both bowl and chopsticks down, folding her hands in her lap. "He thinks nothing's wrong with that. He thinks we're babying him enough as it is, letting him sleep in my room while we air his out." She turned slightly to direct her ire at the men outside the door "And I'm sick to death of hearing him complain about sleeping in one of the other guest rooms. Sick!" 

Out on the veranda, Genma turned around to look over his shoulder into the living room. And then silently got up and closed the door, shutting Akane completely out. 

Looking at the closed door, she flushed and clenched her fists in her lap, but remained silent. "If I were only a little older...I'd --" Her tone was much quieter, a near growl. "But I'm not," she said, sighing. Kasumi returned with fresh, hot portions of rice porridge, morsels of broiled fish, steamed vegetables and various pickles. 

"I'll give this to Mrs. Tanaka's cat next door." Taking away the now cold portions of Akane's breakfast, Kasumi replaced them with fragrant dishes that filled Alex's senses and reminded him acutely that his own hastily prepared toast and tea would have been considered an appetizer for this meal. "Akane, please..." 

"I know, I know...yield. Yield." She took up chopsticks again and picked up the rice and looked at them as if she had never seen them before. 

The aroma from the broiled fish was so enticing, it was the first dish Alex sampled. It was as good as he had imagined. He took a chance and quickly placed a similar bite on top of Akane's rice. "C'mon, eat up. Can't fight on an empty stomach." 

"I know," she replied, and quickly ate the offering albeit with downturned eyes. 

"Tendo, if it's true..." The rumbling sound of Genma's voice carried into the room, even though the closed door clearly implied that none of it was to be heard by those inside. "There's only one way honor would be satisfied, of course. The children must marry, immediately." 

"The same three notes again," Nabiki added sourly, sipping her tea with a jaundiced eye towards the door. Akane only ate quietly, but the hands holding the bowl and chopsticks were white-knuckled and tense and she looked neither left nor right as she took bite after careful bite, swallowing them without tasting. 

"Saotome, even I would be satisfied with such a solution. It would ensure the continuation of the families, the school and the art...just as we planned." Soun's voice was gentle in marked contrast, pitched much lower than Genma's. "However, there is no feasible way to make that a reality...unless you want me to marry Ranma." 

That brought both girls up with a jerk. Kasumi, entering the room with more tea, stopped in mid-step, bringing a hand to her mouth. "Oh, my." 

The fact Genma said nothing for several long moments was damming. "He can't be serious," Akane hissed through clenched teeth. "He wouldn't dare." 

"And how many times has he engaged Ranma to somebody in exchange for something he wanted?" Nabiki leisurely nibbled at a rice cracker as she watched Alex for a reaction. "Food, clothing, shelter...very good reasons, don't you think?" 

"Akane, didn't your father engage you to marry Ranma?" That got Akane to focus her attention on Alex, but he almost regretted saying anything. Her face was white with anger, but tears stood in her eyes as well. "He wouldn't break that agreement without asking you, would he?" 

"He didn't ask me before he made the engagement. Neither of them asked either of us. It was not done with our permission." 

"What do you want, Akane?" 

Putting the bowl down, Akane put both hands on the table in front of her, palms flat against the surface. Staring at them, her mouth worked a moment or two as her sisters both looked at her intently. "I want Ranma to decide what he wants to do," she said finally. "I want him to choose. Nobody else." 

"Tendo...don't make me laugh. Impossible. I could never repay you the honor you would do us. There's really only one solution. End the pregnancy and be done with it. The children would marry and that --" 

Later, Alex would swear he saw Akane's eyes turn red. 

"That does it!" Standing, it was only two strides to the door, the sound of it being slammed open like a gunshot as it shot to the end of its tracks, bouncing in the rails. "I've had more than enough!" 

Where the mallet had come from, Alex didn't know. Glowing brightly in Akane's grip, he watched Genma begin to backpedal away. "Akane," Kasumi called from the doorway, "You promised not to mallet --" 

"Ranma! I promised not to mallet Ranma...I didn't say anything about his father!" Her eyes never leaving Genma, she advanced on him rapidly, barely giving him time to get to his feet to scurry away. Reaching the doorway, Alex had just enough time to see Akane go into her windup. 

Kasumi only nodded and smiled happily. "Well, that's all right then. Just don't make a hole in the roof if you can avoid it." 

Grinning herself, Akane swung the mallet and knocked Genma into the sky where he sailed swiftly in the direction of the canals. Pausing the judge the angle, her tongue firmly in cheek, she shaded her eyes with one hand as the one holding the mallet was allowed the rest against her side. "No problem. Though I'm not sure if he'll make the canal. I'm much better judging distance with Ranma." 

"More practice, no doubt." Turning in disbelief, Alex found Nabiki casually munching the rest of her rice cracker as she looked to the sky. 

"You're joking." Nabiki only raised her eyebrows in mock surprise but didn't answer. Looking to the horizon, he whistled softly. "Fore." 

Noting that her father hadn't moved, Alex watched as Akane finally dropped her hand and turned to face him. And it was clear she wasn't finished. Bringing the mallet up to gently tap into the opposite palm, she glared at Soun in silence a beat, then two. "You engaged me to marry Ranma," she said quietly. "You and he engaged us, knowing full well you were giving me a wife as well as a husband. You knew, and it was acceptable to you. I don't want to hear yet again how you are looking out for my best interests. And I have never refused you in this matter, have I?" 

Father faced daughter, and again the silence stretched between them. Then, almost imperceptibly, he nodded. Sighing deeply in relief, Akane bowed over the mallet and came up with the relief clear on her face. "Daddy, please. Just let Ranma decide for himself. That's all I'm asking." 

"And you, Akane? Will you abide by his decision?" 

"If he chooses me, I won't object to it." 

"That's not what I was referring to." Wiping eyes suddenly moist with the edge of his sleeve, Soun sighed deeply. "You were there, Akane. What do you think? Could he really be...uh...." 

"Pregnant?" The mallet slid back into malletspace almost unnoticed as her hands found her hips and Akane's stance quickly changed from respectful obedience to frank annoyance. "So what if he is? You've been going on and on about this school needing an heir -- well, here it is! Honestly!" 

Soun looked distinctly uncomfortable. "Akane, dear. If it were that simple --" 

"It is that simple, Dad. We won't blame the baby for having rapist for a father. Who knows? Maybe Ranma will make a good mo -- parent." Coughing slightly, she raised a fist to cover. "He'll have us to help raise it, won't he? If that's what he wants." 

"And if he doesn't want to marry you? The shame, Akane...it would be assumed you were the mother." 

"You're putting words in both our mouths, Dad. Putting words into the mouths of a lot of people, if you ask me." Chiding him, she scratched her head and looked away as Soun remained stoic, the eyes still full of tears. "I want Ranma to choose. If he chooses to have this baby, I want us to support that. He knows how much an heir is needed for this school -- I think he'd support that. He also has the right to decide who would best to raise it. He can choose whoever he likes...I don't care." 

Oh yes, you do...you care a whole lot. A very sweet girl was how Tofu had described her...sweet was the furthest thing from Alex's mind. Who the heck does she think she's fooling with that 'I don't care' jazz? And she'd launch you into low orbit if you called her on it! The smile he felt on his face matched the warm glow beginning to erase a lot of the tension Alex hadn't been aware of. _I like her. Better yet, I understand her. She's fair -- or tries to be. But I wouldn't want to try to put one by her and get caught, no sir...._

Vaguely noting Kasumi removing the breakfast dishes again, Alex saw Nabiki looking up at the ceiling shortly before he heard a loud thump, accompanied by a sharp cry of distress from above his head. It was female, it was shrill...and how Akane got in front of him going up the stairs, he couldn't be sure. Before he could remember that he had no clue where he was going, he was at the top of the stairs looking down at the part in Akane's hair as she sped past him. Following her, he noted she barely slowed down to open the door with a tag bearing her name on it. "Ranma?" 

The room was small, and Akane barely got inside it before she stopped abruptly to regroup. Dr. Tofu was standing at the side of a bed, intently working over a heavily bandaged hand as Dr. Waipio was picking herself off the floor from a sitting position at the other end of the room. 

"Ow, shit! C'mon, doc, do we really have to do this? That hurts, y'know!" The complaints were coming from the patient in the bed, blocked from Alex's view by Dr. Tofu. By process of elimination -- 

"Ran...ma?" Another glowing mallet disappeared into thin air, as Akane stood with her mouth open. 

"I warned her." The sound of another male voice came from behind them as he turned to see another person sitting quietly in the corner, but hard to see as he was in the shadows. "I warned her, but she wouldn't listen." 

Akane paused to brush a hand across the top of a thatch of hair as she passed by him, her eyes briefly meeting his with a fleeting smile. "It's okay, Ryoga. I know you did. What's going on here?" 

"She poked me with a needle the size of a garden hose, Akane!" Alex stayed where he was. Even the little bits he could see around Dr. Tofu fixing the IV line into Ranma's hand were hazy and overlaid like a double-image, clear as crystal. "And in my good hand too...now what am I supposed to do?" 

"Well, you didn't have to throw the doctor across the room, did you?" Sighing, Akane walked over to offer her hand to Dr. Waipio, who looked up sheepishly before taking it. "I'm so sorry --" 

"My own fault, he warned me. And she said no and I didn't listen." 

"HE!" Covering her ears, Dr. Waipio stood, cowering slightly. 

"Line's started," Tofu reported. "You should start feeling better pretty quick, Ranma." 

"I was fine, before." The tone was grumpy, recalcitrant and definitely female, pitched low enough to avoid being rude, but not unnoticed. "Sheesh." 

"What's that?" Moving aside so Akane could get to the bedside, Tofu stepped to Waipio's side as she shook herself, massaging one shoulder as she moved the arm up and down. He began to assess it himself, giving Alex an unobstructed view as Akane sat down on the edge of the bed, gently taking up the hand now attached to the IV line. It snaked up to where the bag was lying on the bookshelf above the bed. "Is something wrong?" she asked. 

"He says he hasn't been able to keep anything down since he got home," Waipio reported sourly. "Dehydrated, bone dry...you gotta tell someone next time, okay?" 

"I'm fine," he replied, the voice a low growl. "Lemme alone." 

Aimlessly patting Waipio on the shoulder as he went past, Alex learned as he approached the foot of the bed what he had suspected was true. Trying to formulate an intelligent introduction for himself, he allowed himself to take in what he saw lying in Akane's bed and simply process it before he said anything. 

There was a lot to see. Inwardly, he whistled, then winced. It was a very small girl, huddled under many blankets, and propped up with fat pillows. The snowy white of the linens only accentuated the sickly yellow pallor of her skin, and every shade of bruised flesh that could be found was present. Her eyes, a fascinating shade of silvery-blue, were nearly invisible in puffy, swollen eye sockets the color of over-ripe purple plums, the bruising leading across the nose and down in streaks over the cheeks and neck. Blows had landed across the jawbone and forehead and the vibrantly red hair was lank and greasy, tangled where it wasn't pulled back into a pigtail that lay across one shoulder. 

The left arm was immobilized in a sling that drew the left hand up under her chin, and she was aimlessly holding her right shoulder with it. Both that hand and the shoulder peeking out from under an undershirt were bandaged with thick absorbent gauze, all of it pristine and new - the work of the good doctors, no doubt. But the small parts of arm and fingers that were visible were black, purple and red fading to yellows, grays and blues. The hand was missing most of the fingernails, those left were badly torn with black nail beds. 

Akane held the other hand in her lap, barely touching it as she stroked around the IV line taped in place near the wrist. It was thickly bandaged too, a fat padding of gauze splinted the palm and more gauze wrapping led up the arm to the shoulder. From the way Ranma was breathing in small, shallow pants, Alex was certain the ribs were securely taped and painful. He wondered to himself how many of them were broken. 

"What a mess," he breathed softly. Overlaying it all was the image of a much taller, stronger man with dark, wiry black hair and the same silvery blue eyes. He overlaid the corporeal form of the girl completely, as overwhelming male as the girl was female -- and Alex was as certain as the bedframe pressing against his shins that this was Ranma Saotome, his real, true form. 

_Well, there's one possible explanation gone. He's definitely a guy with a Jusenkyo curse in the "on" position. He hasn't been hit twice with the same spring or anything like that...._

"Boy, Ranma...when you're a girl, you're tiny!" 

Both heads turned to look at him with dumbstruck faces, and Ranma managed to narrow his eyes still further into black slits as he half lifted his head off the pillow. Alex watched as the mouth worked to get the words out, but he didn't wait. Ranma would demand his identity, what he was doing there and so on...if he waited for that, he knew the perceived differences between them would be too great to overcome. Alex's priority was simpler. Establish a common ground and gain his trust. 

"I remember the last time I was laid up. It was after a big fight with some bad guys after my fiancée's Dad." That closed the mouths, but the eyes still stared holes in him. "I had been fighting inside battle armor for most of the time, so I was kind of beat up like Spam in a can, y'know? Then they broke the armor open...I'm kind of fuzzy after that." 

Ranma looked skeptical, but only blinked. "Skull fracture," Alex continued, tapping his head for emphasis. "In a coma for a whole long time. Broke this one, this one and that one on this side..." Shaking out one leg, he continued. "Both bones in this one, and a whole lotta other things got hurt too. Not to mention the huge tiger bite." 

"Tiger bite?" That almost got Ranma to a sitting position, but wincing, he quickly laid back down again, "You're kidding." 

Putting his hands into his pockets, Alex stood and rocked slightly on his heels. "Tiger bite. In a place I'm not gonna show you. Terry said it was the only place he could reach in time to pull me out of the way." He made a face. "He also said I tasted terrible. That's friendship for you." 

"Your friend Terry --" The calculation going on inside Ranma's head could almost be heard aloud. "No way." 

"My friend Terry turns into the biggest, most gorgeous white tiger you'd ever want to see. Every time he gets caught up with some cold water. I went to high school with him. We're still good friends." 

"And you were in a fight together." 

"Uh huh. Terry's a pretty good martial artist, barehanded style. Because of him, I can at least hold a conversation with you about the art. But I don't think he's anywhere near as good as you are. Now his girlfriend Domino might give you a run for your money." Alex smiled before continuing. "She fights dirty." 

_You're looking at me now and you say that...jerk._ Alex could almost hear it, but he could see it flash across Ranma's face. "I don't think so," was all Ranma said. 

He took a chance and fell serious. "Give me a break. I don't know many martial artists talented enough to manage a ki blast with most of the bones in their body broken. Certainly not one powerful enough to throw something three times their size across the room. And that's just what you did. Deny it." 

He stood there with his hands in the pockets of his blue jeans, still wearing the letter jacket from his high school, daring Ranma to call him a liar. Ranma, for his part nonplussed, tried to wrap his brain around the stranger and what he was saying. It was almost too good to be true, he was exactly what he had been told to expect. But -- _What does he want from me? Gaijin. I don't ever know what they want...but Dr. Tofu says he's a nice guy and he wants to see about helping me out. But he didn't saying nothin' about calling me out, no sir he didn't...._

"Ranma, you didn't." Akane was a curious mixture of admiration and embarrassment. Very cute, too. But he wasn't going to tell her that in front of Ryoga and them, even though the idea that she was proud of him pleased Ranma to his fingertips. 

"Yeah, I guess that's what he did, all right." Ryoga was still sitting on the floor in the corner next to the door, cross-legged with his arms crossed. 

"And you didn't stop him? Ryoga, really!" 

He only shrugged, at a loss. "I warned her, Akane. I did, really..." 

Alex laughed softly, even though it brought every eye in the room back to him. _He's not mad. He's not shocked, or embarrassed or disgusted or anything._ Then it fell into place for Ranma. _He's not kidding when he's says he was in a big fight like that -- he really was. He'd have to be - to find this funny. Any normal person wouldn't understand nothing about it. They'd be all uncomfortable like Dr. Waipio was, looking at me funny and stuff._

"I ain't sayin' I did it, but if I could...how come I got beat up like this?" 

The laugh died off into a smile that didn't reach his eyes. His blue, blue eyes - they looked like ice to Ranma. 

"Because..." He stopped, cocked his head and sighed. "Because Ranma, you never had a chance. The guys that got you were bigger, meaner and ready for you... I--" 

"Guys?!" His voice broke in the middle of the word in a girlish squeal that made him cringe inside. "What the hell makes you think it was more than one, huh? Huh?" 

"You're going to tell me you remember?" The stranger shot the statement back as fast as Ranma could field it, glaring at him in open challenge. "Come on, look at you. I'm surprised you're still alive, okay?" 

"I've had worse." 

"You're not a good liar, either. Don't try it again." 

Ranma then informed the stranger, and everyone else in the room in no uncertain terms that his parents had never been married, were not human and were descended from diverse barnyard animals who mistook each other for members of the same species. He didn't understand a word of it, but the sentiment was crystal clear. Alex's jaw worked a bit, then the eyes glittered. 

"Takes one to know one, don't it pal?" he answered. "I met your father downstairs. Doesn't look like the apple fell far from the tree." 

For a moment, Ranma's face went blank. _Oh great, Pop fell in the fish pond again...but wait a minute, I heard Akane knocking him into next week... Didn't she? Yeah...._ "Hey, wait a minute..." 

Stepping briskly to Akane's side, Alex gently, but firmly set her aside to the head of the bed and took her place sitting next to Ranma. "Look at this hand, would you? What do you think caused this? Huh?" 

_"I dunno."_

"I'll tell you then," he replied in neat, painfully precise Japanese. Every syllable was perfect, textbook. Sounded like a vocabulary drill. "You fought for your life, Ranma. You fought back with every weapon you had. I'll bet your feet look much the same -- you kicked, clawed and crawled away...protected your face, your body. You never gave in." 

"I lost, asshole." The faces blurred as his eyes filled with tears. "I lost, and there was nothin' I could do about it." 

"No," Ranma heard him, the word still painfully correct but the tone warmer and softer. _Doesn't hide much, does he?_ Without hands to dry his eyes, Ranma turned his head to try to wipe the tears away on the pillow but before he could get started, he felt someone do it for him with a light touch. "No, Ranma. You won. You're still alive. Whatever you did, it was the right thing to do." Opening his eyes, Ranma saw Alex pull the handkerchief away to meet them. "Think a moment, and forget what anyone's told you. Can I pull these blankets back?" 

_Okay, so now I look at him funny._ "Sure...I guess." Standing, Alex neatly folded the blankets down so they laid neatly at the foot of the bed. The room was a bit cooler without them, and Ranma felt gooseflesh rise on his arms and legs but as he watched, the stranger blanched a bit, then blinked and gently took an ankle in each hand. 

"I think...no, I'm sure. It picked you up, this leg and the opposing arm and threw you into something hard, like a wall. That's how you broke your collarbone. But it snapped a bone in this ankle, too." 

"We didn't do any x-rays, Alex." Dr. Tofu's voice was matter-of-fact, but quieter nonetheless. "Couldn't, and then didn't see enough need to. That shoulder was dislocated too. I think you're right. Should we have? 

"S'okay. Will comparing it against the other one be okay?" 

"Okay?" 

"I'm going to fix it." "Fix -- you can do that?" "Yeah." 

He saw Dr. Tofu look over Alex's shoulder, adjusting his glasses and looked down at the leg that didn't hurt as much. Then he put a hand down on it, wiggled it a bit. "This one's sound. Can you tell if the fractured one needs a reduction?" 

Ranma felt his eyes widen as the stranger's eyes began to sparkle. "It just feels like a crack, really," he answered. "Not very big, and the edges haven't been pushed apart. It's beginning to heal on its own...if I speed it up, it won't hurt as much to walk on." He turned his head to look Dr. Tofu in the eye. 

"I can do it." 

"Wait a minute..." Looking to Dr. Waipio, Ranma went cold inside as he watched her fold her arms, looking interested but not surprised. Dr. Tofu even looked relieved! "What are you gonna do? I--" 

_Heat. But like a bath...not like a fire._ Gasping, Ranma looked to the ceiling as wave after wave flooded through him, sweeping through him like a gulp of hot tea on a cold winter day. Settling into his ankle, it got warmer still, enveloping the pain as it faded...then the heat faded as well. 

Looking up, he saw Alex open his eyes to look at him as well. _Well, that... jerk...._ Ranma couldn't find stronger words. Somehow, he just couldn't find them. "Someone catch that big jerk," he heard himself say. "He's going to fall down now." 

"No, I'm not..." Ranma wasn't exactly sure he heard the rebuttal or only sensed it, but there was one thing he was certain of as the room faded around him. His eyes still glittering with that freakish golden sparkle, Alex fainted dead away. _You jerk. I don't wanna sleep. I don't wanna --_

* * *

Gray, ashy skies. Plain stone walls, concrete streets lined with trees empty of leaves. Colorless, the horizon shrouded in fog, there was no hint of warmth to be seen.. All empty and bare...and cold. Cold... 

"Alone." Turning to look in all directions, Ranma saw no evidence of life, besides his own. Well, that was okay. As long as there were no other people, there was no danger. Sort of. 

Hugging his arms to himself, he tried to chafe some warmth into them as he began to walk. Where he was going wasn't certain, but maybe somewhere ahead there would be a place to get inside and get warm again. He was also vaguely aware of being hungry...and the thought of sitting at a table full of food, warm and fragrant began to fill his imagination. With people...yeah...that's where the people, and safety were. He thought of Akane first, feeding her precious little pig, who looked at him from time to time. Her father, her sisters...idle chatter, idle time...the sky began to brighten and he forgot how cold he was...I'm going home. I know where I'm going now...I know where I am! 

And I won't be alone anymore. I'll be safe there. Walking faster, he could almost see the familiar fences and storefronts from the neighborhood where the dojo was, sensed that the school was that way, the canals this way...home, straight ahead. 

Passing a window, he caught a glimpse of himself and froze.. He saw a girl in the window, and he knew her on sight with a sense of dread. Okay, it's me...but who's that behind m-me? And when did I change? I'm a g-guy... 

Staring at the reflection, he stood stock-still, every instinct alive and screaming for him to flee. But he didn't move. Behind the girl in the reflection was a taller figure, a shadow...a male figure. And as he watched, he slid an arm across her chest from shoulder to shoulder, drawing Ranma against him. "Don't move," it said, almost purring. "Good little girl." 

Move, damn you...get away! He felt the draft of someone breathing on the back of his neck, trailing down under the collar of his shirt. Gulping, he tried to force down the rising panic bubbling inside him. This never happens to me...what's wrong? All I have to do is step back, turn and -- 

I can't. 

He could feel it, the creature holding his girl form in the reflection. As he watched, the shadow caressed the chin of the girl with a finger that suddenly became a claw...drawing blood as it went. "Does it hurt?" it purred, "Could it hurt more, hmm?" 

This isn't happening. It's not real...it can't be. 

She didn't move, staring straight ahead with her hands balled into fists at her sides. Slowly, the shadow moved in front of the girl, her eyes the last thing he saw as it completely obscured her from his sight. "Don't move," he heard it say again. 

And then Ranma knew a desperate fear as the darkness wrapped itself around him. 

"Ranma!" 

Akane? No...it couldn't be. Snapping around, he was in front of the Tendo dojo, Akane at the gate waving madly at him. "Ranma, hurry up! We're going to be late for dinner!" 

He turned to look back and saw a blank fence. There was no sign of...who? There was nobody else there, who was he looking for? Odd...could have sworn there was something.... 

"Hurry up! I'm starving..." 

"Coming!" Home...I'm home! 

He didn't remember crossing the threshold. He simply slept on, oblivious. 

* * *

The warmth of a cup being placed into his hands, the fragrance of miso and spring onions tickled his nose. "Come on friend, drink up. You need this." 

Alex gratefully took the mug from Ryoga and drank. "It's good," he said muzzily. "Is there more?" 

"Sure." 

Prying his eyes open, he found himself nearly nose to nose with inquisitive amber-brown eyes, the color enhanced by the gold and umber clothing he wore and the bandana around his head. He waited patiently for him to drain the mug down to the dregs before he took it away with a slight smile and filled it from an airpot sitting on the desk, and dressed it from another small dish sitting to the side. "Here. Nice and hot." 

"You're Ryoga," he said, taking another big gulp. It didn't seem he would ever be warm again. "What time is it?" 

"It's late. Everyone's gone to bed." 

_Oh, blazes! I've lost the whole damn day! Moran was right..._ "This is not what I had in mind." 

"Oh, I've no doubt of that," he replied airily. "Dr. Waipio explained it all to us." 

"Dr. Waipio? What did she tell you?" 

"Oh, a lot of things," he said, bending down to pick up a covered box from underneath the desk. Picking up his head, Alex looked around to see that he was still in Akane's room, and was seated at her desk. Stretching, he could only conclude he had sat there most of the day. Lying against the doorway was a futon and duvet set with Akane wrapped between them, soundly asleep. Listening, he heard the soft sounds of another's breathing and knew Ranma was in her bed, asleep as well. "She said she had trained with one of you guys in Java when she was still a resident. Watched the guy do surgery and everything. It's pretty neat -- can you teach me to do it too? 

Opening the lid, he displayed the contents. "Onigiri? Kasumi made some spam, some eel...I think there's some cucumber in there if you don't eat meat. She said sometimes you guys are real strict vegetarians." 

"I could eat the whole box. And the box. Thanks." Smiling even broader, Ryoga proffered the entire thing to him and waited for him to begin eating, folding his hands in his lap happily. "How about you?" 

"I ate earlier, thanks. I think there's some tea left too. Would you like some?" 

"If it's no trouble." 

"It's not." 

"Have some with me?" 

"Sure. I'd like that." 

As Ryoga stood to fetch the tea tray, Alex followed suit, stretching completely from his toes to fingertips. It was very late - not a sound from the street or the rest of the house, and finding the alarm clock on the bed beside Ranma, Alex's suspicions were confirmed. It was after 1:00 in the morning. Reaching back to get a rice ball, he walked over to check on Ranma more closely as he heard Ryoga busy with the tea. 

"The degree of injury was simply incomprehensible," he murmured softly. "Well, they got that right." 

A small frown line between Ranma's eyes caught his attention, and a soft sound close to a whimper from Ranma intensified it. "Now, now...enough of that, stonehead. You're sleeping in your own bed in your own home. Get busy and do it." It only took a gentle touch to smooth the line away. 

"Gosh, I wish you'd been here last night. None of us could sleep." 

"I can imagine. He's pretty spooked." 

"Yeah, that's a good word for it," Ryoga said, nodding. "I've never seen anything like it...and from Ranma--" He blew air and combed bangs away from his eyes. "Ranma's just not that kind of guy, y'know?" 

"He's stubborn, I'll give him that." Alex noted that Ryoga had served the tea in thick mugs without handles, big ones that could be gripped with both hands. Taking one from him, he motioned Ryoga to sit at the desk as he found a place at the foot of the bed. Ryoga grinned and straddled the chair, chin resting on the backrest as he took a deep pull from his own mug. "I don't know who decided hell was a hot place, but he surely didn't know how awful it is to be cold..." Shivering, Alex took another gulp, wincing at the sound. "Sorry." 

"Is he dreaming about...?" Meeting his eyes, Alex saw interest and no little concern there. Nodding, he winced a bit, cocking his head. 

"Eh, maybe...at first glance, you'd think so. I'm working on keeping it bearable for the moment, but I don't think he actually is remembering...it. More like his brain is working on the whys of it." 

"Like he's trying to figure it out. Yeah, that would be Ranma. If he ever lost a fight, he was never satisfied until he learned how to defeat the guy. You have to be on your toes with Ranma...he learns quick." 

"And how would you know that?" 

"I'm pretty quick, myself. I guess." 

_You're that rival they were telling me about._ "I see," he murmured. "And what relation are you to him, besides sparring partner?" 

Ryoga only blew more air, looking away. "Nothing. I wish I'd never met him." 

"Uh huh. And that's why you're up in the middle of the night standing guard. You can't stand him." 

His response was to turn a wry face to him. "I'm doing it for Akane's sake," he said shortly. "I was helping out Akane when I found him, y'know." 

Alex fought down the urge to laugh out loud by taking another long drink, but he knew he'd never be able to keep up the pretense once the tea was gone. "Okay, okay...so that's not exactly true," Ryoga muttered angrily. "I just couldn't leave him there, could I? All alone..." 

He took another long pull himself, his thoughts turning inward as Alex watched. "Gods, what are they going to do, man? Everything'll heal okay, but then...what if?" 

Alex raised eyebrows as he proffered his mug back to Ryoga for a refill. "Everyone seems concerned about the pregnancy." 

Ryoga took the mug with a guilty start, gritting teeth. "Even that can be dealt with, I think, with time. It won't be easy, but...that's not what I'm worried about." Pouring the tea, he handed the mug back and poured himself another and took a drink. "I can't figure out what would try so hard to kill Ranma...if it made him have a baby too. I doesn't make sense." 

"That's assuming he knew Ranma was pregnant." Ryoga only shrugged. 

"Why not? As close as it was, they left him alive. And as dumb as it sounds, it's not easy to beat up Ranma. And to beat him up like this -- well, I dunno, but you'd think whoever it was wanted something. But what?" 

"Maybe it didn't want him pregnant. Maybe it was after something else." 

That made Ryoga rest his chin on the backrest so only his eyes showed. "He got what there was to have," he growled softly. "And maybe you're right. That makes more sense...but whatever got him this way didn't have anything to do with keeping him that way, y'know? I've heard of some other Jusenkyo-cursed who had families...they weren't locked down like this when they were pregnant. I've been racking my brain ever since I found him - I can't figure it out." Looking up, he met Alex's eyes with a worried look. "I'm not sure the pregnancy has anything to do with it. Maybe whatever it was did do it. Maybe it's permanent. Maybe...." 

"You sure seem to know a lot about Jusenkyo, Ryoga." Ryoga flushed as he looked away, a small self-depreciating grin on his face. 

"You know Ranma, you know a lot about Jusenkyo. Whether you like it or not," he replied. "You don't have much choice." 

"Hmm." Alex filed it away for further reflection. _So Ranma isn't the only one here Jusenkyo-cursed, is he? Interesting._ "Ranma's still a guy under all this, Ryoga -- I can see him. Think about it a second -- if you were a girl and changed into a-a goat, say, and you got pregnant...you could still change back and forth with no problem because you would have the plumbing to be pregnant in both places." 

"Makes sense. But if you're girl who changes into a guy --" 

"Or the other way 'round...one way or the other, you'd lose the means to maintain the pregnancy." Alex put chin into hand, still holding the tea mug in the other as he propped the arm up. "So, to stay pregnant, something else is at work, and what we see is Ranma unable to change back into a boy." 

Ryoga shook his head. "I can't figure it out. What would want Ranma dead --" 

"If he was bearing new life?" The look he gave Ryoga verged on being sly, but he smiled. "What makes you think the two things are related?" 

"That's what scares me the most," he answered. "Because if they're not, they've got a bigger problem than they thought." 

"Go on..." 

"If the pregnancy isn't being protected by the same thing that made it, then we've got two forces at work. One really nice, if you think about it...and the one that nearly killed Ranma. One that's really...bad. And if that's the case, it's not here in the room with us, y'know? It's still out there. And it could get someone else. Do the same thing all over again...and this time, kill someone. I don't think it was trying to get Ranma pregnant, if you know what I mean." Shaking his head, Ryoga shook himself again and drained his cup in one pass. 

"Really bad, " Alex said. "I like the way you think, Ryoga." 

He only sighed, and wilted. "No offense, but I don't think anyone's got a clue yet. Akane loves Ranma. He's her first concern. But she's not looking beyond him right now, y'know? If Ranma were in better shape, he'd be thinking the same thing I am. You know their fathers are thinking it -- look outside." 

"Huh?" Walking over to look out the window, Alex followed Ryoga's line of sight to see the fence bordering the property, then a dim light outlining two figures playing a game of Go on the veranda. "Couldn't sleep?" 

"Eh...you decide." Picking up a pencil eraser from Akane's desk, Ryoga hurled it out the open window into the koi pond. The response from Genma and Soun was immediate. 

Suddenly, there was nobody at the Go board any longer. But there were two figures on the fence, moving swiftly in opposite directions. Alex hadn't seen them move, or heard a thing. Just as he was about to make a remark, the two fathers met again on the fence, spoke briefly and -- 

Were back at their game of Go. 

"Impressive." Ryoga only huffed and looked away. 

"Old and slow. They're not bad, mind you...don't get me wrong. I guess they might be good teachers." 

"But if they had to fight what got Ranma?" 

"They'd be chirashi sushi. To go." 

"Ranma's better than that?" 

"I'm better than that." 

Fancy that. Ryoga sighed, and rested his chin on folded hands as he sat and looked out the window from behind the desk. Closing his eyes, his brow furrowed slightly. "Ryoga, if it's any consolation, the reason I'm here is to find out why Ranma can't change back." 

"Huh. Pretty powerful guy for such a little job." 

"What makes you think it's a little job? Only thing I've been able to tell is there's nothing wrong with the curse...Ranma is still a guy, but the curse is in the on position. Everything is as it should be - except I haven't seen what happens when he's hit with hot water." Looking into his mug, Alex drained what was left before reaching over to put it back on the desk next to the teapot. "And that, I think will wait until tomorrow. He needs to rest. And from what I've heard, morning sickness is like clockwork." 

"Gods," Ryoga said softly, "are you that sure?" 

"Yes." 

"...ryoga?..." 

Without opening his eyes, Ryoga grinned. "If that's you, Ranma...go back to sleep." 

"What are you doing awake? You were sound asleep, I'd make book on it..." It was only a few steps back to the bed, but as he took them, Alex found himself retaking the measure of the man lying there. 

"...ryoga's fullashit...'m faster." 

"Do tell." Laughter lightened the tone of Ryoga's voice as he turned to look over his shoulder. "Much better, if you're already picking fights with me again, Saotome." 

"...uh huh..." 

Gently running a hand over the top of Ranma's head, Alex found himself smiling broader as he realized what Ranma was doing. "I don't think he's quite awake, Ryoga. But he's not quite asleep, either. Ranma, who's this?" 

Head thrown back, his right arm thrown back over his head, Ranma's eyes were closed. Lips parted, he breathed through his mouth and spoke softly, barely parsing the words. "...big dumb gajin faker jerk...alex....hmmm. how come I know y'name? Mmmmm...." 

"Because I told it to you, Ranma," he said gently. "Faker? Who's a faker?" 

"Fakir, I think he means. That's what Dr. Waipio said you were. An Indian fakir." 

"...uh uh...he's nah one of those..." 

_So that's what she got out of it. I think I can clue her in later...if I need to._

"...'merican injuns wear paint...and stuff...and go whoowhoowhoo all ovah d'place...faker al'right..." 

Curbing laughter, Alex and Ryoga looked at each other and shook their heads. "Ranma, go back to sleep," Ryoga drawled. 

"Well, I'm not an indian," Alex said. "Ranma, who's that?" 

"...mmm?" 

"Who's that?" 

"...that Ryoga? That's Ryoga....yeah," Ranma sighed. "...big dumb jerk who hates m'guts...he says...but he alwa's 'round when...somethin' ...ah need...somethin'...doan know why...he...hates...me... wish..." 

Ryoga stiffened, the grin quickly fading. "I've been through hell on your account, Ranma --" It came out louder than he wanted, harsher and just as quickly, he met Alex's concerned face with a sheepish one of his own. "Sorry. But it's true. A lot of things would be much different except for Ranma." 

"A lot of things would be much different now, except for you too," Alex replied. "But you couldn't leave well enough alone." 

"Never could," Ryoga growled. "Guess I'm just stupid that way." 

"...h'loves Akane. I can' help it...now...can' help it at all." Ranma began to toss his head, still sound asleep as Alex reseated himself at Ranma's side. Trying to keep Ranma from becoming more agitated, he found it harder and harder to soothe him and found himself with both hands on either side of Ranma's head. He tried to be gentle, but it quickly became apparent he would soon have to physically restrain Ranma or he would end up on the floor. Alex also remembered a ki blast not that long ago, and quickly went through the available options. 

"Ranma, not now. Let it be. Nothing is going to happen right now...leave it." 

"...want Akane..." 

"She's right over there, sleeping. Just like you should be...hush, now. Rest..." 

"Ryoga's gonna hate me, cos'...Akane...n'me...and I doan wan' that...but...." Turning to look over his shoulder, Alex watched Ryoga draw further and further into himself, his eyes glittering with unshed tears. 

"...damn you, Ranma," he heard Ryoga mutter. "Damn you to hell." 

The scream Ranma uttered was not unlike some Alex had heard in the past, but he hadn't expected the power and desperation it contained and he moved quickly to intercept the panic before it grew any larger. 

Focusing, moving power, he commanded. "SLEEP." Ranma went limp, like a puppet with its strings cut, panting. Then slowly, his breathing settled and Alex was certain he was deeply, truly asleep. "Freak of nature, " he cursed good-naturedly, "you'll go, if I have to drag you there every step of the way." _Nevermind what this is all about...I'll sort it out later. Later..._

"Stubborn, isn't he?" A gentle hand found Alex's shoulder as Akane steadied sleepy feet under herself. _Oh damn, she's up._

"I'm sorry, Miss Akane..." Yawning, she only smiled back at Alex before giving Ranma her undivided attention. 

"Wow, I actually got in four hours that time." 

"Akane, please...go back to sleep. We can take care of this." Ryoga was on his feet, moving to guide her back to her futon and duvet. 

"I'm sure, I'm sure...don't mind me, I'm just checking. Okay?" 

"And you've checked," Alex turned his head to look her in the eye. "I just hit him with the biggest mickey in the book...he won't wake up until breakfast. I'd feel much better if you would do the same." He remembered to smile. "Please?" 

She ignored him, stepping around him to curl herself on the pillows behind Ranma's head, gingerly settling into place with her feet hanging over the edge. Pillowing her head on one arm, the other gently traced the curve of Ranma's jaw with light fingertips as Akane's eyes closed again. "I'm right here," Alex heard her murmur as her eyes closed again. Ranma did not stir, and her eyes didn't reopen as both their breathing settled into sleep. 

"Last night was like this?" Facing Ryoga, Alex could only hope he would get a chance to talk to him about these two people who had become such a large part of his life. It was like looking at a train wreck to see the expression in his eyes. 

"Last night was worse," he said shortly. "Last night, neither of us could leave the room. It got to the point where we wouldn't let anyone else in, because he'd go off if they left." Scrubbing his face, he stood up abruptly and walked to the door, kicking Akane's bedding out of the way. "I got to get some air." 

"I'll take your watch. Get the air, but get some sleep." 

"Yeah. Well, I'll go camp out in the dojo...see you in the morning." 

"...Ryoga --" 

"None of your concern. Leave it." 

But when Ryoga found a futon with a warmed duvet in the dojo, fragrant with lavender, he turned to see why Kasumi was awake and only saw the window to her room as dark as the rest of the other bedrooms. 

His eyes turning reluctantly to Akane's room, he saw only the dimmest of lights brightening the window, and the face of the American looking out of it. As their eyes met, Ryoga saw him smile as he turned away from the window and draw the curtains. 

_Huh. If I'd known guardian angels were such nice people, I'd have asked for their help more often. If that's what he really is, anyway...._

Still, it was hard to rest once he was between the covers. _They don't know what they're up against...they don't know. Gods...and neither do I._

* * *

**Copyright Notice**

The characters and stories of Ranma 1/2 are Copyright © Rumiko Takahashi, and are used here without permission or license. We aren't going to make a dime on this today, and tomorrow isn't looking much better. No claims to the above copyright are made by the authors of this work. This work is for non-commercial use ONLY. This work is the expression of the authors and the depiction of the Ranma 1/2 characters herein are in no way represented to be a part of Ranma 1/2 as depicted by the original author and copyright holder(s). Beware of writing fan fiction. One right move and you might end up married. 


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